Update July 30, 2011. As many on Kos know, and some may not, there will be a protest in New Orleans next week on August 5th. ALEC has their national meeting with activities beginning on August 1 and concluding on August 6. Protest ALEC's protest and march takes place on August 5. Since many ALEC legislative members take per diem payments and stick taxpayers with the bill, it seems appropriate to ask ALEC legislative members to identify themselves as ALEC members, and to disclose whether they are sticking taxpayers with the bill for their big party or if they are taking paid "Scholarships" worth up to $1900 where they get their radical legislative agenda, straight from the hundreds of corporate executives, Washington Lobbyists, and Corporate lawyers who write and approve the "Model Legislation" intended to make our democracy represent corporate interests over the interests of the people who elected the representatives. If you can make it to NOLA, please do so. If you can't please chip in a few dollars to help ProtestALEC defray expenses. My original diary follows immediately below:
I did a very similar diary yesterday, which covered the Ohio House of Representatives. This diary covers the Ohio Senate. Please read on. When you get to the part below the fold, you may notice an improvement in how to contact the senators by email.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)
They meet in secret. They write our laws. And they want us silent.
This is one of a series of state diaries with the goal of getting our ELECTED representatives to disclose if they are affilliated with ALEC, and to identify just how much legislation in our 50 state capitols is written by our Unelected Shadow Government of Washington DC Corporate Lobbyists, Washington DC Corporate Lawyers, and over 300 corporate members of ALEC. The end result of this outside interference with the operation of our state governments is to have corporate interests represented over the interest of over 300 million American citizens, to permit the vast cash resources of 50 state budgets be directed to the coffers of ALEC corporate members who exercize veto power over what gets into ALEC "Model Legislation".
A perusal of the ALEC website will find them bragging that in a recent year, 826 ALEC bills were introduced in our 50 legislatures, and that about 100 passed, a "success" rate of 18 per cent. And that was in just one year. One can almost guarantee that their "success" rate has gone up in 2011 because of large gains in legislatures of radical Republcans in the low turnout 2010 election.
As most Kos readers know, Ohio Governor John Kasich has been associated with ALEC almost from the start, and it is clear that ALEC's legislative agenda is John Kasich's legislative agenda as well. They are joined at the wrist and ankle, and there is no space between them. ALEC cannot implement legislation without a compliant legislature, and we have such legislatures in Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, Utah, Texas, Airzona and other states. We must shine the light on them and their doing the bidding, indeed, getting their marching orders and actual legislation from the Unelected Shadow government in Washington DC. This bothers me, I hope it bothers you enough that you will write some legislators and ask them if they are getting their legislation from outside the state, in contravention of the needs of the people who elected them.
Here is a list, by District of all 33 Ohio Senators, and as a bonus, I figured out how to code an email link directly to the Senators. When you click the email link, an email will pop up with the senator's address already filled in, making your job to drop the letter into the email much easier. You still have to personalize the specific senator's contact info into the letter, and of course your info at the bottom. Senate leaders of both parties are identified by bold type for their titles. The leadership from both parties should be targeted with letters, plus your own Senator, and as many others as you have time to write to. Enjoy:
District 1
Cliff Hite (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-8150
Email: SD01@senate.state.oh.us
District 2
Mark Wagoner (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, 1st Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-8060
Email: SD02@senate.state.oh.us
District 3
Kevin Bacon (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-8064
Email: SD03@senate.state.oh.us
District 4
Bill Coley (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, 2nd Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-8072
Email: SD04@senate.state.oh.us
District 5
Bill Beagle (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, 1st Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-6247
Email: SD05@senate.state.oh.us
District 6
Peggy Lehner (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, 1st Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-4538
Email: SD06@senate.state.oh.us
District 7
Shannon Jones (R)
Majority Whip
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, 2nd Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-9737
Email: SD07@senate.state.oh.us
District 8
Bill Seitz (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, 1st Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-8068
Email: SD08@senate.state.oh.us
District 9
Eric Kearney (D)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-5980
Email: SD09maild.senate.state.oh.us
District 10
Chris Widener (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, 1st Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-3780
Email: SD10@senate.state.oh.us
District 11
Edna Brown (D)
Minority Whip
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, 2nd Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-5204
Email: SD11@maild.senate.state.oh.us
District 12
Keith Faber (R)
President Pro Tempore
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, 1st Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-7584
Email: SD12@senate.state.oh.us
District 13
Gayle Manning (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 644-7613
Email: SD13@senate.state.oh.us
District 14
Thomas E. Niehaus (R)
President
Statehouse
1 Capitol Square, 2nd Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-8082
Email: SD14@senate.state.oh.us
District 15
Charleta B. Tavares (D)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-5131
Email: SD15@maild.senate.state.oh.us
District 16
Jim Hughes (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, 1st Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-5981
Email: SD16@senate.state.oh.us
District 17
David T. Daniels (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-8156
Email: SD17@senate.state.oh.us
District 18
Tim Grendell (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 644-7718
Email: SD18@senate.state.oh.us
District 19
Kris Jordan (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-8086
Email: SD19@senate.state.oh.us
District 20
Jimmy Stewart (R)
Majority Floor Leader
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, 1st Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-8076
Email: SD20@senate.state.oh.us
District 21
Shirley A. Smith (D)
Assistant Minority Leader
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, 2nd Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-4857
Email: SD21@maild.senate.state.oh.us
District 22
Larry Obhof (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, 1st Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-7505
Email: SD22@senate.state.oh.us
District 23
Michael J. Skindell (D)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-5123
Email: SD23@maild.senate.state.oh.us
District 24
Tom Patton (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, 1st Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-8056
Email: SD24@senate.state.oh.us
District 25
Nina Turner (D)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-4583
Email: SD25@maild.senate.state.oh.us
District 26
Karen Gillmor (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-8049
Email: SD26@senate.state.oh.us
District 27
Frank LaRose (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, 2nd Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-4823
Email: SD27@senate.state.oh.us
District 28
Tom Sawyer (D)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-7041
Email: SD28maild.senate.state.oh.us
District 29
Scott Oelslager (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, 2nd Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-0626
Email: SD29@senate.state.oh.us
District 30
Jason Wilson (D)
Assistant Minority Whip
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-6508
Email: SD30maild.senate.state.oh.us
District 31
Tim Schaffer (R)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, 1st Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-5838
Email: SD31@senate.state.oh.us
District 32
Capri S. Cafaro (D)
Minority Leader
Statehouse
1 Capitol Square, 3rd Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-7182
Email: SD32maild.senate.state.oh.us
District 33
Joe Schiavoni (D)
Senator
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-8285
Email: SD33maild.senate.state.oh.us
As I was compiling the above list, I did a count, and the Republicans outnumber Democrats 23 to 10 in the Ohio Senate. A distressing figure, but it is hard to imagine we can go any lower than that, but the Republicans will certainly try with their control of the apportionment process. It is our job to make the public aware of just how egregious and damaging to Ohio and America this pack of Republicans have been, and cause a huge turnout election in 2012 with a cleaning house mindset.
Here is the letter, and I have made a few minor modifications to make it easier to use for the Ohio Senate specifically. Please remember to fill in the bold spaces marked with XXXXXXXXX.
Honorable XXXXX XXXXXXX,
Senator XXXXXXXXX, District XX,
1 Capitol Square, XXXXX Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Dear Senator XXXXXXX,
It has come to my attention that there is an organization known as The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) that has gained enormous power in American politics, specifically at the state level. This organization is known to work behind the scenes, will not disclose its rank and file membership, will not disclose its funders, and will not disclose the principal product of its work, which is Model Legislation. I see this as a dangerous practice because such failure to disclose who writes and sponsors legislation in our 50 state capitols is a serious breach of transparency which our laws and constitution demands of all legislators. Every voter in our state deserves to be advised of who is writing our laws, the interests behind the laws, and whether they favor special interests at the expense of the residents, voters and taxpayers of our state.
• My first question is; Are you a member of ALEC, yes or no?
• If Yes, when did you join?
• Have you ever sponsored, or co-sponsored legislation written or partially written by ALEC?
• Please identify all ALEC written legislation you have sponsored or co-sponsored.
• ALEC has a series of conferences and workshops throughout the year. The next event is the Annual Meeting which is to be held in New Orleans, LA August 3-6, 2011. Do you intend to attend this event?
• If you attend this event, will you be traveling at Taxpayer expense, Yes or No?
• If you will be traveling at ALEC expense, please identify how much this is costing ALEC for your travel, lodging, meals and other considerations (golf outings and the like).
• If you are not traveling to the New Orleans conference, do you intend to join via teleconference or video link?
• Please explain how legislation written by Washington DC Lawyers, Washington DC Lobbyists, and Corporate interests, some of which do not do business in our state, represents the interests of the residents, voters and Taxpayers of our state better than legislation written by our elected legislators.
• If you are a member of ALEC or any other organization which has a hand in writing the laws of our state, please verify that your listing in the legislative website correctly states this affiliation. Legislative transparency demands this. I want to know who is writing the laws of my state, and I want to know why outsiders think they know more about our problems than our elected representatives do.
In closing, I am very serious about wanting to know who is writing and influencing the legislation that is enacted in our state. Please respond seriously.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Address,
email if desired
Phone
Instructions for the letter. Open your word processor program. Copy the letter from this diary onto your clipboard. Paste the letter in the word processing program. Put the legislator's name, district number and Floor number into the spaces provded. At the end, put your personal information so your legislator can reply to you. Then mail it.
Alternately, click on the email link. Copy the letter from this diary onto your clipboard. Paste the letter in the Email body field. Put your senator's name, District number and Floor number into the spaces provided and marked with XXXXX. At the end, put your personal information so your senator can reply to you. Verify that all information is correct, then hit send.
Yesterday I did a diary for the Ohio House of Representatives. If you missed it, please feel free to link and get info for the House as well.
So there you have it. A means to contact all Ohio legislators and a "cut and paste" letter to find out if your legislators are "cut and paste legislators" as well. Republicans talk a good game on "transparency". Let's make them be transparent in how and who is writing our legislation that is so anti-citizen and so pro-corporate.
It is Exposing ALEC's strong opinion that ALEC cannot operate effectively if their nefarious corporate political agenda is under the spotlight of public scrutiny. Toward that end, our group is seeking to shine that spotlight on the over 2000 state legislators whom the organization claims to be in their membership, the over 300 corporate sponsors who pay between $5,000 and $25,000 to join the various committes and Legislation Writing Work Groups consisting of powerful corporate lawyers, corporate lobbyists, and corporate executives who exercize veto power over what gets into ALEC's "Model Legislation". Click on diaries in Exposing ALEC for far more information about their process and why they need secrecy to maintain their grip on our 50 state legislatures. We want to blow up that secrecy, and force our legislators of either party to once again be OUR representatives, not representatives to an Unelected Shadow Government made up of $500 per hour corporate lawyers, corporate lobbyists from Washington DC and corporate executives who are directing the activities of the lawyers, lobbyists and our legislatures.
Thanks for reading and sending letters to your senators and representatives. Please comment below about which reps you have sent letters to. And finally, please send at least one copy to your local newspaper (Ohio list here). Thanks again for visiting and reading.
Don't forget, a major rally to demonstrate the ALEC Annual Meeting in New Orleans, August 3 through 6 is being planned. Watch Exposing ALEC for more information soon.