ALEC’s Legislative Agenda on Education

On American Legislative Exchange Council task forces, corporate lobbyists and special interests vote as equals with elected representatives on templates to change our laws, behind closed doors with no press or public allowed to see the votes or deliberations. ALEC’s education legislation diverts taxpayers’ money from American public school children to for-profit education corporations, strips away the rights of teachers and their ability to negotiate strongly for small class sizes and other practices that help children learn better, and gives more tax breaks to rich corporations and individuals to pay private school tuition, among other things that undermine America’s proud tradition of investing in our future through investing in excellent public education for all of America’s children. ALEC’s education task force has long been chaired by a private school corporation.

Funding Private Schools and Private Profits with the Public’s Money

·      ALEC’s “Family Education Tax Credit Program” creates a tax credit for paying private primary or secondary school tuition and fees. It would also create a tax credit for corporations and individuals that give money to be used as “scholarships” to pay tuition and fees at private schools. This also reduces tax revenue for public services.

·      ALEC’s “Parent Choice Scholarship Program Act-Universal Eligibility” creates a voucher program to use taxpayer funds that would be spent on public schools to subsidize private for-profit, religious, or other primary and secondary schools. This program has no income limit for subsid and therefore all students would be eligible.

·      ALEC’s “Parental Choice Scholarship Accountability Act” helps enable taxpayer money to be used to subsidize for-profit, religious, or other private schools.

·      ALEC’s “Education Enterprise Zone Act” creates a voucher program to subsidize private schools with taxpayer money.

·      ALEC’s “Education Accountability Act” allows a state to override the elected school board, declare schools “educationally bankrupt,” and divert funds to private schools.

Tipping the Scales in Favor of Charter Schools Over Public School Innovations

·      ALEC’s “Charter Schools Act” would allow the state to grant charters to create and operate schools outside of traditional public schools, while also exempting these charter schools from state laws that apply to public schools.

·      ALEC’s “Next Generation Charter Schools Act” allows state taxpayers to subsidize charter schools that compete with public schools, while exempting charter schools from complying with many legal standards and requirements that govern public schools.

·      ALEC’s “Resolution Supporting Private Scholarship Tax Credits” urges more tax cuts for corporations and individuals to subsidize for-profit corporate schools through funding “scholarships.”

Advancing Other Controversial Proposals

·      ALEC’s “Virtual Public Schools Act” requires virtual or online education company courses to be recognized as public schools and require that such companies receive the same per pupil funding as traditional schools that provide classrooms, sports training facilities, lunch, and transportation, resulting in windfall profits for online “schools.”

·      ALEC’s “Parent Trigger Act” would allow a small group of parents to close public school for current and future students, and turn the school into a charter school or require the state to use taxpayer dollars for vouchers to subsidize private tuition.

·      ALEC’s “Resolution Supporting the Principles of No Child Left Behind” supports the Bush Administration’s controversial effort of  using expanded testing of limited subjects as a way to claim public schools are failing and also to effectively limit the teaching of important life skills and other educationally enriching topics not subject to testing.

·      ALEC’s “Common Sense in Medicating Students Act” prohibits any school personnel from even recommending medication for any troubled child to parents, even if the school has experts on staff experienced in making such non-binding recommendations.

Attacking Teachers and Undermining the Power to Negotiate to Help Students

·      ALEC’s “Great Teachers and Leaders Act” changes tenure rules for teachers and allows tenure to be revoked based on limited measures of success without regard to underlying conditions in the schools or environment.

·      ALEC’s “Teacher Choice Compensation Act” requires teachers to opt out of union contracts in order to be eligible for performance-based salary stipends.

·      ALEC’s “Public School Employee Union Release Time Act” attempts to overturn negotiated agreements that allow for certain union activities to be compensated.

·      ALEC’s “Alternative Certification Act” attempts to allow students to be taught by people who have no training in how to teach children and the different ways kids learn at various ages and based on different learning styles. This paves the way for for-profit schools to pay “teachers” less than educators who are actually trained in teaching.

ALEC’s Legislative Agenda on Women and Children

On American Legislative Exchange Council task forces, corporate lobbyists and special interests vote as equals with elected representatives on templates to change our laws, behind closed doors with no press or public allowed to see the votes or deliberations. ALEC’s model legislation harms women and families in numerous ways, including proposals that would roll back no fault divorce laws, limit the regulation of day care centers, make it more difficult for impoverished children to receive the benefits of welfare, limit regulation of toxic and hazardous substances that adversely affect children’s health even more so than adults, bar lawsuits for injuries due to recalled drugs despite the spate of recalls of medicine used by children and young adults, and, among other things, outsource to for-profit companies the collection of child support.

Regulating Marriage and Child Care

·       ALEC’s “Marriage Contract Act” would roll back the clock by decades to the era when a wife or husband had to prove fault, such as adultery or impotence, in order to dissolve a marriage contract.  The bill rejects the concept of “no-fault” divorce, which allows incompatible spouses to dissolve a marriage without claiming the failure was the other’s fault. The bill also specifies that a marriage contract is only between a man and a woman.

·       ALEC’s “Neighborhood Child Care Center Act” exempts entities responsible for providing day care for infants and children from complying with any state regulations other than those regarding fire/safety and health/sanitation if the day care center receives no state or federal funds; such provisions may put more kids at risk of injury from untrained or poorly trained day care workers or from other conditions that would otherwise have been regulated.

Limiting Access to Family Benefits and Relief Programs

·       ALEC’s “Proof of Custody Act” requires that a parent have sole custody to obtain benefits to help care for a child, unless both parents with joint custody apply for benefits for the child. The bill echoes demands of an anti-welfare men’s group, which claimed the bill would prevent welfare fraud.  It denies access to welfare benefits to children when parents have joint custody rights unless both parents apply for benefits and are jointly eligible, without any exceptions for joint custody situations where a parent is not providing required child support, is uncooperative, or not themselves eligible for welfare benefits. 

·       ALEC’s “Privatization of Child Support Enforcement Services” allows a state to privatize the administration, delivery, and/or management of child support enforcement services, injecting a profit motive into the management of child support with no compelling proof that outsourcing such services to a monopoly business with no competition will improve child support collection.

·       ALEC’s “Study of Welfare Benefits of Families in the AFDC Program Act” mandates a study to calculate the total value of benefits provided to poor families, which are often single parent households. Included in the study would be programs such as low-income energy assistance to prevent families from freezing to death, school breakfast and lunch programs that help ensure that children in poverty have nutrition essential to help them concentrate and learn in school, Head Start programs that help prepare low income children for school, and “Women, Infants, and Children” (WIC) benefits that help ensure that babies born in poverty have access to nutrition. The likely aim of the study is to make it easier for opponents of these programs to argue for their elimination.

Endangering Children’s Health

·       ALEC legislation such as the Voluntary Childhood Lead Exposure Control Act, the Private Property Protection Act, the Groundwater Protection Act, and the Resolution to Retain State Authority over Coal Ash as Non-Hazardous Waste Act impose disproportionate burdens on children and pregnant women who are particularly vulnerable to environmental toxins.  When these bills are enacted, the resulting increases in pollution exposure and ingestion can lead to premature births, birth defects, childhood asthma, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and countless other health problems.

Imposing in Women’s Health

·       ALEC’s “Parental Consent For Abortion Act” requires written parental consent for a young woman under 18 to exercise her right preserve her privacy, control her destiny, and terminate a pregnancy. If a young woman does not seek or is denied parental consent, she would have to navigate the judicial system to petition a court to waive the requirement. The bill also makes it a crime for a doctor to perform an abortion at the young woman’s request, without parental consent or a judicial override.

·       ALEC’s “Guide to Repeal Obamacare,” which would repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and numerous other ALEC “model” bills on Medicaid (i.e. “Resolution on Federal Medicaid and Welfare Block Grants”) would adversely affect women, including:

o   Insurance companies will be free to charge women more than men and deny coverage to children and adults with preexisting conditions. The ACA would stop this.

o   Pregnant women in some states would no longer receive full Medicaid benefits because some ALEC provisions would not allow states to provide more benefits than the federal government minimally provides. Enacting such bills may leave pregnant women without access to important medical attention during pregnancy.

·       ALEC’s “Drug Liability Act” and “Punitive Damages Standards Act” adversely impact women and children.  The Drug Liability Act bars American families from suing a drug company if medicine kills or injures their child, spouse, or parent if the FDA approved the drug—even though numerous dangerous drugs have been approved by the FDA only to be recalled and many drugs are not adequately tested on sub-populations such as children or women of different ages.  Similarly, the limits on punitive damages act would limit the power of a jury to punish a corporation whose actions or neglect were egregious, and by limiting punitive damages to a multiple of compensatory damages would undervalue to lives of children and women, who may have little or no projected lost income to compensate but whose loss is enormously devastating.

Creating a “Commission on Men”

·       ALEC’s “Act relating to the creation and operation of the Commission on Men” would create a new taxpayer-funded entity to promote “paternal influence” and male family involvement, as well as examine some men’s health issues. The bill was sought by men’s rights groups as a way to promote their political and ideological agenda. 

Pushing Laws That Favor Corporations and the Wealthiest over Working Families

·       ALEC promotes austere economic measures that disadvantage working families while favoring rich corporations and individuals: bills include the Capital Gains Tax Elimination Act, Resolution Urging Congress to Permanently Extend the Bush Tax Cuts, and A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging Congress to cut the federal corporate tax rate. These and other bills make it harder to raise revenue to provide needed public services for families. 

All PA Dems have now disaffiliated from ALEC

The last Democratic member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly with ties to ALEC has announced he is no longer affiliated with them.  This is the 18th announcement of disaffiliation from ALEC by a PA legislator.

ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council,  is behind the efforts to pass bills that strip away union rights, scale back child labor laws, attack the regulation power of environmental agencies, suppress voter rights with strict identification requirements, eliminate the social safety net, and privatize public services. ALEC is not just another public policy organization, it is a corporate front group supporting some of the most radical and dangerous legislation in the nation. 

The eighteen legislators come from both major parties, with ten Democrats and eight Republicans separating from ALEC.  All legislators listed as being affiliated with ALEC have documented ties, either publicly stating their prior affiliation or from public documents (Right to Know Law documents, DOS campaign finance reports, or PA Ethics filings).


The defections have come after Keystone Progress supporters sent tens of thousands of faxes, letters and emails to PA Senators and Representatives.  An additional 45 legislators have told Keystone Progress that they have never been affiliated with ALEC.

Here are the 18.  Thank them at www.justsaynotoalec.com  

·         Rep. Harhai, Ted (D) H58

·         Rep. Harper, Kate (R) H61

·         Rep. Keller, William (D) H184

·         Rep. Kotik, Nick (D) H45

·         Rep. Markosek, Joseph (D) H25

·         Rep. Major, Sandra (R) H111

·         Rep. Micozzie, Nicholas (R) H163

·         Rep. Mustio, Mark (R) H44

·         Rep. Readshaw, Harry (D) H36

·         Rep. Petrarca, Joseph (D) H55

·         Rep. Thomas, W. Curtis (D) H181

·         Rep. Turzai, Mike (R) H28)

·         Sen. Boscola, Lisa (D) S18

·         Sen. Corman, Jake (R) S34

·         Sen. Greenleaf, Stewart (R) S12

·         Sen. Pippy, John (R) S37

·         Sen. Washington, Leanna (D) S4

·         Sen. Williams, Anthony (D) S8

Find out where your legislators stands at www.justsaynotoalec.com

16th PA Legislator Quits ALEC

The grassroots efforts of Keystone Progress continue to pay huge dividends in PA.  We're now at 16 legislators who have quit ALEC.

The latest- Republican State Senator Stewart Greenleaf (R, 12, Bucks, Montgomery). Greenleaf has served on ALEC's Criminal Justice Task Force ( http://elliottgreenleaf.com/sjg.html ).

Greenleaf wrote to Keystone Progress, saying "I have a membership with ALEC but because of concerns that have raised by my constituents I will not be renewing it."

Greenleaf is the 7th PA Republican to quit ALEC.  Overall, 60 legislators have told Keystone Progress that they are not members of ALEC.  KP has letters, emails or voice messages from all 60 to verify their disaffiliation.

You can help us get more legislators to quit, or see the entire list at wwwJustSayNoToALEC.com 

ALEC’s Legislative Agenda on Guns

ALEC’s Legislative Agenda on Guns

On American Legislative Exchange Council task forces, corporate lobbyists and special interests vote as equals with elected representatives on templates to change our laws, behind closed doors with no press or public allowed to see the votes or deliberations. Members of ALEC’s Public Safety and Elections Task Force were in charge of writing, adopting, or voting on all bills involving guns. Corporate members of the task force have included the National Rifle Association (NRA), Wal-Mart, Reed Elsevier, the American Bail Coalition, Koch Industries, the Heartland Institute, and Corrections Corporation of America.

In 2012, in the wake of the controversy over Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, an NRA bill ALEC ratified as a model to push for states across the country to adopt, the Public Safety and Elections Task Force was disbanded by ALEC. In addition to the “Stand Your Ground” bill, other ALEC model legislation on guns includes proposals that oppose efforts to restrict the sale of “cop killer” bullets and assault weapons, a bill opposing waiting periods for gun sales, and a bill to force universities to allow students to carry guns on campus.

Supporting “Stand Your Ground,” “Shoot First,” or “Kill at Will” Laws

·         The “Castle Doctrine Act” expands traditional self-defense rights to create a roving right to stand and shoot if threatened in public places and creates a legal presumption that a shooter acted lawfully, making it difficult to obtain a conviction for killing an unarmed person. Florida's controversial law was crafted by the NRA, which took the bill to a closed door ALEC meeting and urged that it become a national model, which is why the bill, also known as the “Stand Your Ground” or “Kill at Will” law, is an ALEC “model” that has been adopted in whole or in part in over two dozen states.

Opposing Restrictions on Assault Weapons and “Cop Killer” Guns and Bullets

·         ALEC’s “Resolution on Semi-Automatic Firearms” expresses opposition to proposals by local, state, and federal governments to restrict the sale of semi-automatic weapons, known as assault weapons.

·         The “Defense of Free Market and Public Safety Resolution” opposes efforts by law enforcement to use their purchasing power to buy law enforcement weapons only from gun manufacturers that improve gun safety to protect kids and whose dealers are not notorious for selling crime guns.

·         At ALEC’s Public Safety and Elections Task Force 2011 meeting in Arizona, the NRA obtained unanimous support from ALEC’s corporate and lawmaker members for a proposal to expressly bar cities from banning machine guns.

Infringing on Local Law Enforcement’s Public Safety Efforts

·         The “Consistency in Firearms Regulation Act” would prohibit local city or county governments from enacting firearm regulations designed to protect public safety and suing gun manufacturers.

·         The “Concealed Carry True Reciprocity Act” allows two states to recognize each other’s concealed carry permits and the “Concealed Carry Outright Recognition Act” requires a state to recognize a concealed carry permit or license from another state without requiring reciprocal action by that state. Traditionally, law enforcement groups have opposed legislation to allow permits or otherwise authorize the concealment of firearms and have urged governors to veto such statutes as well. 

o   In 2012, legislators in Kansas, Maine, and Wyoming have introduced bills which would make their states recognize concealed carry permits from every other state and which share language with ALEC’s model Concealed Carry Outright Recognition Act.

·         ALEC’s “Emergency Powers Firearm Owner Protection Act” amends emergency powers laws to prohibit the seizure or confiscation of firearms during a declared state of emergency. Under this act, a police officer who does so would be held criminally and civilly liable. The Center for Media and Democracy reports this bill was introduced in 2006, just a few months after stories arose that some guns were seized by Hurricane Katrina emergency responders in order to restore public order.

·         ALEC’s “Resolution on Firearms Purchase Waiting Periods” opposes any federal, state, or local government body imposing waiting periods during a sale of a gun.

·         The “Campus Personal Protection Act” would force universities to allow students to possess guns on campus. In 2011 alone, 23 states introduced some form of legislation that would have forced colleges to allow students and/or faculty to carry guns on campus.  

Pushing Firearm Programs for Children

·         ALEC’s “Resolution on Child Firearms Safety” and “Youth Firearm Safety Resolution” endorses NRA programs on gun safety, and recommends that schools adopt the NRA programs to teach children how to handle guns, using an Eagle puppet that makes the NRA seem warm and fuzzy.