Updated: The impact of ALEC in the Midwest

[August 8: This entry was originally posted on August 2, but has been updated with additional information on ALEC’s impact in Minnesota, and with a national report from Common Cause]

The Center for Media and Democracy has recently compiled a database of bills connected to the American Legislative Exchange Council, an organization that writes and circulates “model” state level bills. Recently many of these bills have begun to surface again in states, including anti-union, voter ID, school privatization, and anti-immigrant legislation. Two Midwest states in particular have had a lot of action from ALEC:

Wisconsin has a history with ALEC, as its legislative and executive leaders have been members of the organization before. The Center for Media and Democracy breaks down the Wisconsin bills on which ALEC has had an influence, including the push to weaken public employee unions and voter ID legislation. Network partner Common Cause in Wisconsin notes that ALEC is meeting in New Orleans this week and points out the Wisconsin players.

Additionally, Network partner Common Cause Minnesota has released donation information showing over $150,000 in campaign contributions from corporations associated with ALEC. These organizations pay to access legislators at ALEC conferences, and in Minnesota, at least 19 legislators are members of ALEC’s legislative task force. Common Cause Minnesota also shows some of the ALEC model bills introduced in Minnesota, as well as the legislators associated with ALEC.

National Common Cause has released a report (PDF) showing the money and power behind ALEC, and ProPublica has written a guide to understanding ALEC’s influence on your state.