May 1, 2012
Did the American Legislative Exchange Council Give Me the Full Story?
ALEC’s total lack of honesty and transparency has not changed.
“I e-mailed ALEC’s new spokesperson Friday to ask how extensively and for how long the council has been tracking its model bills, since the spreadsheet seemed to directly contradict what the group told me last fall. The council responded today with a statement from a lawyer:
“ALEC is no different than other organizations that focus on state policy. The difference is there is a committed effort by extreme liberal front groups to diminish ALEC’s effectiveness in supporting free-market solutions in the states. This is a dishonest attack as these groups do not hold other organizations to the same standards. ALEC does not lobby and makes every effort to ensure that its processes are effective and compliant.”
ALEC didn’t provide an answer to my question. Which leaves me to wonder why the council disavowed any staff knowledge of which of its model bills were moving where. If the council is tracking its bills, it has to get that information from somewhere. The most likely answer is it’s getting it from the state legislators—or by carefully watching the progress of its model bills in the states itself. Either way, it seems like the opposite of having “no idea.”
To read this entire article from Bloomberg Businessweek, please click here.
