Special Interests May Derail Historic Oregon Legislative Session

Elected by no one, ALEC uses elected officials to promote laws impacting virtually every aspect of American public policy.

From the site: ALEC Exposed

(SALEM) - A national special interest council threatens citizen involvement in Oregon’s first annual legislature. ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, is a nonprofit increasingly dominating legislatures and impeding citizen access in all 50 states.

Corporations pay for membership in ALEC and for “scholarships” to legislators desiring Conference attendance where they learn what corporations want. After instruction Legislators return to their states and promote ALEC “model bills.” But offering “scholarships” to legislators ALEC seeks to influence may violate nonprofit rules. The IRS has yet to rule on a Common Cause complaint covering that and other possible violations (link below).

Elected by no one, ALEC uses elected officials to promote laws impacting virtually every aspect of American public policy. Legislators participate in Council lectures and workshops offering an exclusively corporate perspective that is drafted into “model bills” legislators promote.

The Center for Media and Democracy has been tracking and exposing ALEC tactics for years making it easy for anyone to look over the shoulders of ALEC representatives in each legislature. CME established a special site for citizens concerned about ALEC's obstruction of democracy (see http://alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed.) CME Executive Director Lisa Graves says ALEC, “is more powerful than a lobbying group because, in effect, it turns some state legislators into corporate lobbyists."

Oregon’s first annual session (Feb 1) provides an unprecedented opportunity for the media to report on ALEC influence in the Oregon legislature. ALEC-Exposed allows anyone to a) track Oregon bills back to their ALEC “models,” b) interview Oregon legislators who are active ALEC members, c) interview non-ALEC legislators concerned about undue influence, d) discuss ALEC distortion of representative government.

The ALEC State Chair in Oregon is Rep. Gene Whisnant (R-53) Sunriver. Last Session as ALEC Public Sector Chair for Oregon, Rep. Whisnant introduced two ALEC model bills intended to restrain and restrict government ability to provide services (HB 3360, HB 3486). The objective of those bills was fulfilled in a third Whisnant/ALEC bill (HB 3488) that would have forced privatization of services, a major ALEC objective. In a recent email Rep. Whisnant said, “I am introducing three bills in 2012 which came from ALEC model legislative bills.” (See list of current ALEC representatives in the Oregon Legislature below).

Concerns about ALEC influence in Oregon might motivate an “ALEC Accountability Act of 2012” like that currently sponsored by Arizona Rep. Steve Farley (below).

Many question how special interests in the Oregon legislature frequently prevail over public interests. The growing number of ALEC representatives in the Oregon Legislature is one answer to that question.

Richard Reid

OTHER RECENT ALEC COVERAGE

From The Nation Magazine. Eight stories, an NPR interview with The Nation’s John Nichols and several blog entries. www.thenation.com/search/apachesolr_search/ALEC