All three state chamber leaders who have resigned in disgrace this year are members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

The American Legislative Exchange Council occupies a central role in the “political establishment” that seeks to ensure state politicians are serving the interests of big corporations and wealthy donors over the needs of their own voters. ALEC ensures an open channel of communication between corporate lobbyists and politicians to write, approve of and then push legislation in the states

Here’s How ALEC Works

Corporations make large donations to ALEC in order to fund the organization’s operations and a “scholarship fund”. This fund pays for legislators’ travel and accommodations at five star resorts across the country where they participate in spa days, golf outings, and steak dinners with corporate lobbyists, all while discussing legislative agendas in your state.

At retreats, ALEC’s corporate members sit on “issue task forces” where they have a specific interest in the laws and special rules governing their business. Politicians join corporate lobbyists on these task forces to draft new bills that govern those industries and then they vote TOGETHER to approve those bills as “ALEC model bills”. Then, politicians take these model bills back to YOUR state capitol, and in many cases, pass them into law.

For decades ALEC has been at the forefront of these “pay-to-play” politics that have resulted in greater inequality, fewer rights, and less long-term security for working people, all in the name of political power and corporate profits.

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