Walmart is the 18th corporation to cut ties with ALEC

by David Safier

ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) looked bulletproof a few months ago. Few people had heard of it, and there were no consequences for being part of the conservative legislation-creation machine. But a combination of sunlight provided by ALECexposed revealing the organization's dark corners and the Council's alliance with the NRA's shameless promotion of the Shoot First/Stand Your Ground laws after the Trayvon Martin shooting has led a number of big time backers to run. The latest is Walmart.

Here's a list of other corporations that cut ties with ALEC: Medtronic, Amazon.com, Scantron Corporation, Kaplan Higher Education, Procter & Gamble, YUM! Brands, Blue Cross Blue Shield, American Traffic Solutions, Reed Elsevier, Arizona Public Service, Mars, Wendy's, McDonald's, Intuit, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, and Coca-Cola.

Four non-profits have cut ties as well: Lumina Foundation for Education, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), and the Gates Foundation.

Nationwide, 54 legislators have left the group. Not one is from Arizona.