Republic covers ALEC conference

by David Safier

It's good to see the MSM picking up the ALEC story. In its Political Insider column, the Republic makes a rather snarky reference to the Republicans summering at the New Orleans ALEC conference on the corporate dime.

-  Do you know where your lawmakers are? . . . A lot of them spent part of the week in New Orleans at the American Legislative Exchange Council's annual meeting. And it's likely that lobbyists are picking up the tab. ALEC is a pro-business, limited-government group that is heavily backed by businesses and corporations. According to a review of Arizona lawmakers' annually filed financial disclosure reports, dozens of legislators have used ALEC "scholarships" in past years to help pay for their attendance at the summer conferences where they work with businesses to develop model legislation states can consider.

It's not clear which Arizona lawmakers participated in ALEC's session this year. Spokesmen for the House and Senate majority caucuses said they had no information and referred calls to ALEC. ALEC's communications team refused to release the information and wouldn't even put a number on the size of the delegation, saying only that "Arizona usually makes a good showing."

This year's conference includes guest speakers like former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey and features sessions on public pensions, K-12 education reform, state sovereignty and federalism.

Either the Republic doesn't have a Capitol Times subscription (I do), or it doesn't trust the CT info. If it did, it could find the names of the 29 AZ Rs who attended the conference in a Friday article. Here's the list.

Rep. Cecil Ash, R-Mesa
Sen. Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix
Rep. Brenda Barton, R-Safford
Rep. Judy Burges, R-Skull Valley
Rep. Steve Court, R-Mesa
Sen. Rich Crandall, R-Mesa
Rep. Chester Crandell, R-Heber
Rep. Jeff Dial, R-Chandler
Sen. Adam Driggs, R-Phoenix
Rep. John Fillmore, R-Apache Junction
Rep. Doris Goodale, R-Kingman
Rep. David Gowan, R-Sierra Vista
Rep. Rick Gray, R-Sun City
Sen. Gail Griffin, R-Hereford
Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills
Sen. Lori Klein, R-Anthem
Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Glendale
Rep. Nancy McLain, R-Bullhead City
Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson
Rep. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler
Rep. Justin Olson, R-Mesa
Rep. Frank Pratt, R-Casa Grande
Rep. Amanda Reeve, R-Phoenix
Sen. Don Shooter, R-Yuma
Rep. David Smith, R-Scottsdale
Rep. Andy Tobin, R-Paulden
Rep. Michelle Ugenti, R-Scottsdale
Sen. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler
Rep. Kimberly Yee, R-Phoenix