This has been a full week for the people interested in the impact that the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has had in undermining democratic (little D, you guys) government in the states. And, the worst week ever for the ALECcratsOn Wednesday, the long awaited doc dump of ALEC's model bills happened, as did the (ongoing, so go visit it) piece from Beau Hodai at In These Times, which contained this jewel:
...ALEC does not give “gifts,” according to ALEC Senior Director of Public Affairs Raegan Weber, based in Washington, D.C. “It’s not a ‘gift,’ ” she says. “It’s a ‘scholarship.’ We don’t give gifts. A gift is something given out of kindness. I’m gonna give you this. A scholarship has specific specifications which must be met.”
According to Weber, the scholarship funds do not come from ALEC. Rather, Weber says that all funds are raised in each state by either the state’s public or private sector chairs, independent of ALEC. After being raised, the funds are simply given to ALEC for the group to hold until each state’s public sector chairs request a disbursement, she says.
I love that Ms. Weber has managed to talk ALEC's way out of ethical impropriety by revealing what bears a more than passing resemblance to felony bribery.
So fucking stupid, this one.
Let's break it on down, starting with some background.
For those just joining in on the effort to dismantle the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy that is the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a basic explanation of what the organization is helps:
ALEC is not a lobby; it is not a front group. It is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, behind closed doors, corporations hand state legislators the changes to the law they desire that directly benefit their bottom line. Along with legislators, corporations have membership in ALEC. Corporations sit on all nine ALEC task forces and vote with legislators to approve “model” bills. They have their own corporate governing board which meets jointly with the legislative board. (ALEC says that corporations do not vote on the board.) Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. Participating legislators, overwhelmingly conservative Republicans, then bring those proposals home and introduce them in statehouses across the land as their own brilliant ideas and important public policy innovations—without disclosing that corporations crafted and voted on the bills. ALEC boasts that it has over 1,000 of these bills introduced by legislative members every year, with one in every five of them enacted into law. ALEC describes itself as a “unique,” “unparalleled” and “unmatched” organization. We agree. It is as if a state legislature had been reconstituted, yet corporations had pushed the people out the door.
So your GOP state rep (or DINO? I'm looking at you, IN State Rep. Peggy Welch, what's the deal with the ALEC cash?) goes to an ALEC meeting.
As we know from Arizona, their traveling expenses and hotel will be "reimbursed." Moreover, the Missouri Republicans will be able to go to an "Missouri Night" breaking out the food (wine, wine any one?) on lobbyist dime.
ALEC: Where Morally Bankrupt State Legislators Pick up Next Session's Bills
So ALEC and there corporate members wine and dine state legislators. Money in politics is no great surprise, right? I mean how can you blame them when state laws often permit massive contributions directly from corporate officer, hell direct corporate donations, from the people they regulate to their campaign. IN House Speaker Brian Bosma took in $300,000 from one guy in the last election cycle alone. What's the shock?
The shock is that ALEC establishes a direct quid pro quo. As Ms. Weber explained in the quote above:
"A gift is something given out of kindness. I’m gonna give you this. A scholarship has specific specifications which must be met
Yes, it's much better that "scholarship" money, e.g. quid, is exchanged for taking home corporate written model legislation that is expected to be entered by legislators as their own without public disclosure, e.g. quo.
Of course what keeps this legal is that ALEC is supposedly in the mix, creating a separation between quid and quo, taking corporate donations that they solicited for "educational purposes." Let's graph it out:
This is what a gray area scheme would look like. The institutional separation provided by ALEC between legislators soliciting funds and lobbyists providing them makes the effort to demonstrate a quid pro quo more difficult. But this isn't what Raegan Weber described. Remember her description of the arrangement of solicitation and the payment of funds:
scholarship funds do not come from ALEC. Rather, Weber says that all funds are raised in each state by either the state’s public or private sector chairs, independent of ALEC. After being raised, the funds are simply given to ALEC for the group to hold until each state’s public sector chairs request a disbursement, she says.
That changes the graphic above, so it looks like this:
The difference. Direct solicitation of funds from lobbyists participating in the creation of model bills by ALEC state chairs. ALEC itself isn't soliciting the donations, it's laundering the money beneath the radar of state lobbying laws. It's bribery.
Bringing the VRWC Right On Down
The image of state legislators in handcuffs being dragged away on a felony indictment is powerful. Remember that the ALEC scheme we've discussed here is happening in all 50 states, and puts a hundreds of state legislators in the position where they may be dragged out for the perp walk.
This won't happen on it's own. We have to push.
First, contact your state Attorney General. They should have the power to investigate this.
Second, write letters to the editor, raise hell with questions on this at town meetings. Be the change, boys and girls.
Finally, I'm going to point out that the Protest ALEC crew is organizing a protest action at the ALEC August meeting in New Orleans. Show up, send money, ask the media to cover this event. You can make a difference.
