You’ve probably never heard of ALEC, but depending on where you live, you may be living under the state laws they made possible.

ALEC – which stands for the American Legislative Exchange Council –  secretly exerts incredible influence on how your state laws are made.

Big business, not satisfied with controlling federal public policy, buying politicians and basking in the glow of their new-found freedom granted by the Supreme Court as a result of the Citizen’s United decision, has moved on to plot the takeover of state lawmaking.

ALEC, funded by – you guessed it –  huge corporations and conservative foundations, exists solely to bring business-friendly state lawmakers together with lobbyists for big corporations. It drafts model bills to ensure certain industries enjoy unfair advantages in the marketplace and, wherever possible, to limit the influence of government regulation. Recently, ALEC championed Arizona’s anti-immigration law and opposed Net neutrality.

During the 2009 legislative session, ALEC helped select state lawmakers introduce 826 bills – 115 of which were signed into law.

Fortune Magazine reported that, “Despite the intimate involvement of lobbyists, ALEC officials insist the organization is not a lobbying group, since it doesn’t follow lawmakers to try to advance their bills. Instead, ALEC is a charity, a status it justifies because of its educational mission. The designation allows the group to collect tax-deductible contributions, and it eases lawmaker travel to ALEC events.”

With the recent Congressional elections giving the GOP 700 seats in state legislatures, you can bet that ALEC is chomping at the bit to exert even more influence over state laws and policy. Let’s be watchdogs for what they do. They are no longer under the radar. We’re watching.

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