This blog post is about ALEC. It is not an expose. It is not original research. It is not dogged, hard-hitting investigative journalism. It’s not blowing the lid off a conspiracy. As a reader of my blog pointed out these particular “conspirators are so shameless they work their machinations right out in the open feeling secure their deceit and scheming has stomped the opposition down to the point where nothing can stop them.” Talking about “the banality of evil” sounds like hyperbole as well as a cliche - evil is such a loaded word. But if you evaluate intent, identify negative effects, and scale it by the multitudes of those effected, the words start to take on some objective reality.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a bonafide 501c3 (registered non-profit, although its non-profit status is being challenged). In its own words ALEC "works to advance the fundamental principles of free-market enterprise, limited government, and federalism...” It’s been around for about 41 years. It writes “model bills” which can be introduced verbatim into the legislative stream (mostly for states) for easy passage to nail down the agendas of corporations or conservative interest groups. Wikipedia’s characterization is helpful and concise:
ALEC provides a forum for state legislators and private sector members to collaborate on model bills—draft legislation that members can customize and introduce for debate in their own state legislatures. Approximately 200 such bills become law each year. ALEC has produced model bills on issues such as reducing corporate regulation and taxation, tightening voter identification rules, and promoting gun rights ALEC also serves as a networking tool among state legislators, allowing them to research conservative policies implemented in other states. Many ALEC legislators laud the organization for converting campaign rhetoric and nascent policy ideas into legislative language.
ALEC is effective at channeling funds away from public schools as reported by Brendan Fischer of Common Dreams:
In 1990, Milwaukee was the first city in the nation to implement a school voucher program, under then-governor (and ALEC alum) Tommy Thompson. ALEC quickly embraced the legislation, and that same year offered model bills based on the Wisconsin plan. For-profit schools in Wisconsin now receive up to $6,442 per voucher student, and by the end of the next school year taxpayers in the state will have transferred an estimated $1.8 billion to for-profit, religious, and online schools. The "pricetag" for students in other states is even higher.
In the years since, programs to divert taxpayer money from public to private schools have spread across the country. In the 2012-2013 school year, it is estimated that nearly 246,000 students will participate in various iterations of so-called "choice" programs in 16 states and the District of Columbia -- draining the public school system of critically-needed funds, and in some cases covering private school tuition for students whose parents are able and willing to pay.
It’s been known for some time that ALEC has written and co-ordinated much of the Right to Work (anti union) legislation that has successfully passed in many states in the last three years. ALEC has been instrumental in increasing the prison population in the US by writing the now-well-established “three stikes” laws and “truth in sentencing” laws. But the entrepreneurial zeal of capitalizing on that by making prison labor available to the private sector is truly breath-taking. 
More than 98% of ALEC's revenues come from sources other than legislative dues, such as corporations, corporate trade groups, and corporate foundations. Each corporate member pays an annual fee of between $7,000 and $25,000 a year, and if a corporation participates in any of the nine task forces, additional fees apply, from $2,500 to $10,000 each year. ALEC also receives direct grants from corporations, such as $1.4 million from ExxonMobil from 1998-2009. It has also received grants from some of the biggest foundations funded by corporate CEOs in the country, such as: the Koch family Charles G. Koch Foundation, the Koch-managed Claude R. Lambe Foundation, the Scaife family Allegheny Foundation, the Coors family Castle Rock Foundation, to name a few. Less than 2% of ALEC’s funding comes from “Membership Dues” of $50 per year paid by state legislators, a steeply discounted price that may run afoul of state gift bans.
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Google funds ALEC. Facebook funds ALEC. For a list of corporate sponsors and “task force” participants of ALEC go here.
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