Subject: [big campaign] ALEC agenda for 40th annual mtg: Fracking, Virtual schools, Privitization
From: Aniello Alioto <[email-masked]>
To: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2013 14:52:51 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

A damn good (yet scary) read! Huge props to CMD for the quick, and good,
write-up.

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http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/08/12203/whats-alecs-agenda-its-40th-anniversary-meeting-chicago
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What's on ALEC's Agenda for its 40th Anniversary Meeting in Chicago?****

by Brendan Fischer <http://www.prwatch.org/users/35275/brendan-fischer> —
August 7, 2013 - 10:34am ****

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CHICAGO -- This week, the corporate and legislator members of the American
Legislative Exchange Council are meeting at the swank Palmer House hotel in
Chicago to celebrate the organization's 40th anniversary, be educated in
corporate sponsored workshops and adopt legislative priorities for the
coming year. Here is what is on the agenda for ALEC's 40th -- note that
some of the workshops carry a $40,000 pricetag for corporate sponsors.****
Fracking, Virtual Schools, and Privatization****

   - *New ways to thwart local democratic control *by prohibiting city or
   county governments from regulating genetically modified plant seeds.
   Members of the Agriculture Subcommittee -- which is chaired by Jeff Case of
   CropLife America -- will consider a bill to thwart local democratic control
   by prohibiting city or local governments from regulating genetically
   modified plant seeds, which happens to benefit many members of CropLife's
   trade association and other big ag companies. Contrary to the principle of
   local control, for years, ALEC has promoted bills to preempt local efforts
   to establish everything from paid sick days to municipal broadband.****

****

   - *Presentations on how fracking America can lead to increased
profits*through exporting natural gas. American Petroleum Institute
representatives
   Jon Shore and Rebecca Heimlich will give a presentation on "Local Bans on
   Hydraulic Fracturing: Coming Soon to Your District." And Jason French of
   energy company Cheniere Energy will present to the Energy Subcommittee
   about "LNG [Liquid Natural Gas] exports: A Story of American Innovation and
   Economic Opportunity."****

   - *Discussions of wonders of nuclear energy and offshore drilling.
*Other energy-related agenda items include a presentation on "Nuclear
   Energy’s Continuing Role in Providing Baseload Electricity," and another on
   "Developing America’s Offshore Energy Potential: Good Sense and Good
   Cents." ALEC will also consider a "Resolution in Opposition to a Carbon
   Tax."****

   - *More climate change denial? *Members of the Energy, Environment, and
   Agriculture Task Force will be part of a breakfast plenary session called
   "A Thoughtful Approach to Climate Science." The title is less inflammatory
   than some of its past panels -- at the 2011 ALEC meeting, legislators
   attended a workshop titled “Warming Up to Climate Change: The Many Benefits
   of Increased Atmospheric CO2” -- but given ALEC funders like the Koch
   brothers and members like the Heartland Institute, it seems unlikely that
   the organization has woken up to the dangers of climate change.****

**·         ***Discussions about blocking GMO labeling* laws and ordinances
that would allow consumers to know if they are buying genetically
engineered food, one of the goals of agribusiness and chemical firms that
bankroll ALEC.****

   - *Redoubled efforts to undermine renewable energy initiatives and
   maintain reliance on coal and other fossil fuels.* One workshop, which
   cost $40,000 to sponsor, is titled "The Economic Benefits and Political
   Challenges to Coal Exports." Also on the docket is another bill to repeal
   renewable energy standards, the "Market Power Renewables Act," after the
   failure of the ALEC "Electricity Freedom Act" in 2013. As explained
by<http://checksandbalancesproject.org/2013/08/05/after-fossil-fuel-front-group-attacks-on-clean-energy-fail-new-model-bill-emerges-to-weaken-rps-laws/>the
Checks and Balances Project:
   ****

"'The Market-Power Renewables Act' will likely serve as the model for
another round of attacks on state Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) in
2014 following ALEC’s failure to weaken or eliminate clean energy policies
this year. The new bill would significantly weaken state clean energy laws
by broadening the eligible electricity sources to include existing, large
hydroelectric power plants, biomass, biogas and other sources of
electricity."****

   - *Updates to some of ALEC's long-standing anti-union policies.* The
   "Employee Secret Ballot Protection Act" will be amended "to call for [union
   certification by] a majority of members in the bargaining unit, rather than
   a majority of those voting." This was the same certification policy pushed
   by Scott Walker in Wisconsin, and creates an almost insurmountable burden:
   few governors or presidents would ever win election if they had to win a
   majority of all eligible voters, rather than just a majority of those who
   vote.****

   - *Renewing objections to linking the minimum wage to the consumer price
   index. *ALEC plans to brush-off and renew its "Resolution Opposing
   Increases in Minimum Wage Linked to CPI." In an apparent recognition that
   their justifications for opposing minimum wage increases are
   disintegrating, they will eliminate this line: "In reality, of the
   approximately 2.7% of U.S. workers that earn the minimum wage, two-thirds
   (2/3) will earn an increased wage in a year."****

   - *Privatization and outsourcing of toll roads. *Members of the
   Transportation Subcommittee will discuss "ALEC Principles on Toll Roads,"
   which backs privatization of toll rolls, is particularly relevant to ALEC
   members Cintra, McQueary and Transurban (all foreign firms); Cintra and
   Macquarie have teamed up to cut multi-billion dollar contract deals to take
   control of highways in places like Illinois, basically granting companies a
   monopoly to help state government raise quick revenue in the short term,
   but in the long-term saddling consumers with higher fees and the state with
   lost revenue.****

   - *New efforts to eliminate occupational licensing for any profession*,
   which help guarantee that people who want to call themselves doctors,
   long-haul truckers, accountants, or barbers meet basic standards of
   training and expertise to guarantee that consumers are safe and get what
   they pay for.****

   - *Expanding virtual “schools,” which enriches ALEC’s online school
   corporate funders, such as K12 Inc. *The Illinois Policy Institute --
   the State Policy Network affiliate in the state -- will present on "digital
   education." IPI employees had pushed a Virtual Charter School plan in
   Illinois<http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130513/news/705139936/print/>,
   apparently in collaboration with ALEC member K12 Inc., the nation's largest
   provider of online charter schools (which has become
notorious<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/education/online-schools-score-better-on-wall-street-than-in-classrooms.html?_r=2&seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimes&pagewanted=all&>for
poor educational outcomes and high profit margins). Additionally, at
   least two "workshops" -- which carry a $40,000 pricetag -- will deal with
   online education: "Modeling State Funding Formulas, K-12 Online Course
   Providers" and "Statewide Full-Time Virtual Schools: The Case for Parent
   Choice vs. Local Control."****

   - *More flawed testing for colleges. *ALEC has long promoted increased
   reliance on high-stakes testing for elementary and high school students,
   which many educators say has altered the classroom dynamic and interfered
   with teaching. A bill to be considered at the Chicago meeting will graduate
   that same testing regime to the college level with "The Collegiate Learning
   Assessment Bill."****

Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is There (With Bounty Hunters)****

In the past year, at least 49 global corporations
have dropped their ALEC membership, apparently recognizing that they don't
want their brands publicly associated with an organization that pushes
anti-union legislation and discriminatory voting laws.****

But one of the most surprising hangers-on has been State Farm, an insurance
company that has crafted an image as a "good neighbor:" it certainly
doesn't seem like neighborly to bankroll an organization that has promoted
"Stand Your Ground" laws that make it easier for self-appointed
neighborhood watch vigilantes to get away with murder.****

State Farm has not only stuck with ALEC, but retained a leadership role in
the organization, with a State Farm representative acting as the co-chair
for ALEC's Commerce, Insurance, and Economic Development Task Force -- the
source of anti-labor bills and other controversial legislation.****

Joining State Farm on that task force is the bail bond industry. Last year,
ALEC disbanded<http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/04/11454/alec-disbands-task-force-responsible-stand-your-ground-voter-id-prison-privatizat>the
controversial Public Safety and Elections Task Force that had been
responsible for bills like Stand Your Ground, Voter ID, and prison
privatization, but the for-profit bail industry didn't jump ship: the
American Bail Coalition President and CEO Bill Carmichael remains on the
ALEC corporate board<http://www.alec.org/about-alec/private-enterprise-advisory-council/>(now
called the "Private Enterprise Advisory Council"), and the Surety
Insurance Subcommittee -- chaired by the American Bail Coalition's Dennis
Bartlett -- is now part of the State Farm's Commerce, Insurance, and
Economic Development Task Force.****

ABC, the for-profit bail bond industry's national organization and lobbying
wing, has long been involved with ALEC, calling it the industry's "life
preserver."<http://pretrial.org/Perspectives/ABC%20October%202010%20Newsletter.pdf>
****

Raising the question, do bounty hunters make for good neighbors?****

** **

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-- 
Aniello Alioto
National Political Director
[email-masked]

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