ALEC Stands Its Ground, But Stumbles
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Gage Skidmore
"I'm proud to stand with ALEC today," declared Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Thursday, as he addressed the American Legislative Exchange Council in Washington D.C.
"I first came to ALEC over a decade ago. When I was serving in the Bush administration, I'd been privileged to work with ALEC in the federal government," Cruz said. "I've been privileged to work with ALEC when I was back in Texas with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, leading the 10th Amendment Center."
As Cruz addressed the conference, around 200 activists marched outside, waving signs reading "A Legislator for Every Corporation" and chanting "you can hear us loud and clear -- we want ALEC out of here!"
Cruz (who became notorious for his effort to shutdown the government) was at ALEC to give its corporate lobbyists and state legislator members a pep talk. It was a rough week for the organization that has become known as a "corporate bill mill."
This week, The Guardian published ALEC documents demonstrating that the group has recently lost around 60 corporate members, largely as a result of its role in facilitating corporate influence over state legislators, and for pushing voter ID restrictions, climate change denial, and an array of other controversial, corporate-friendly bills. The documents show that ALEC misled its membersabout the strength of the organization, and misled the press about its plans for forming a 501(c)(4), and suffered a $1.4 million budget shortfall in the first half of 2013, largely as a result of losing corporate funders.
The corporate exodus began after revelations about ALEC's role in pushing "Stand Your Ground" legislation modeled after the law that helped George Zimmerman walk free after killing Trayvon Martin.
"My advice to ALEC is very, very simple," Sen. Cruz said, reflecting on public backlash against the organization. "Stand your ground."
"Sen. Cruz also recently insisted to the mothers of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Russell Davis that Stand Your Ground is good for Black people," said Rashad Robinson, Executive Director of ColorOfChange. "The Senator's doubling down on his ignorant and tone-deaf defense of these deadly laws -- and ALEC's responsibility for spreading them nationwide -- shows how disconnected ALEC's champions have become from reality."
"We Became More Transparent." Really?
ALEC does appear to be "standing their ground."
Rather than addressing many of the issues that have made ALEC so controversial, it has instead focused more aggressively on public relations. Last year, the group hired global PR firm Edelman, which made its mark representing the tobacco industry, and now represents oil and pharmaceutical interests. ALEC paid Edelman nearly $500,000 last year, according to tax filings. ALEC disbanded the Public Safety and Elections Task Force responsible for the spread of Stand Your Ground and voter ID, but has done nothing to promote the repeal of those laws.
ALEC has also hired a former Edelman executive, Bill Meierling, as their in-house Director of Public Affairs, and paid $118,000 to "public affairs" consultants during the first six months of 2013, according to a budget published by The Guardian.
Oddly, as ALEC tried to weather the storm this week, the notoriously secretive organization tried to change the discussion by touting its "transparency."
"We became more transparent" in 2013, reads the first page of the meeting agenda. ALEC is "focused on transparency," ALEC said in a statement released this week.
ALEC is "moving towards transparency," said its spokesperson Meierling, as herefused press credentials to Mother Jones reporter Andy Kroll.
ALEC's Meierling also touted the organization's "transparency" as it barredWashington Post reporter Dana Milbank from attending the task force meetings where corporate lobbyists and state legislators vote as equals on model bills. “Our business meetings are not open, and so the subcommittee meetings and task force meetings are not open,” Meierling told Milbank.
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