NY Times breaks new ground on ALEC story

by David Safier

The NY Times has a front page story about ALEC: Conservative Nonprofit Acts as a Stealth Business Lobbyist. It picks up from the frequently told story about ALEC model legislation spreading to state legislatures around the country and moves the ball farther. It talks about how ALEC acts as a watchdog on legislation it doesn't like, giving legislator/members talking points to kill unfavorable legislation or tweak it to remove its teeth.

Desperate for new revenue, Ohio lawmakers introduced legislation last year that would make it easier to recover money from businesses that defraud the state.

It was quickly flagged at the Washington headquarters of the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, a business-backed group that views such “false claims” laws as encouraging frivolous lawsuits. . . . One [ALEC member], Bill Seitz, a prominent Republican state senator, wrote to a fellow senior lawmaker to relay ALEC’s concerns about “the recent upsurge” in false-claims legislation nationwide. . . . The legislation was reworked to ease some of ALEC’s concerns, making it one of many bills the group has influenced by mobilizing its lawmaker members, a vast majority of them Republicans.

The article also reinforces the power of the corporate sponsors of ALEC over the legislators whose votes and ideas can be vetoed by corporations who disagree with them.

An article like this can make things a little hotter for corporations who continue their ties with ALEC and may encourage Democratic state legislators and the media to "out" bills spread by ALEC.