Common Core: “State Led?”, think again

Common Core: “State Led?”, think again

Think the Common Core State Standards are State led? 

Many have led you to believe that the Common Core standards were born from the states. 

The states had very little choice but to implement them, not create them.

They were left with no choice but to accept hundreds of millions of dollars to reform education.

The push from the top down forced the states to adopt the standards that were created using many layers of influence around the world.

From Marc Tucker, ALEC, UNESCO, to BIll Gates and the United Nations, etc, this has never been nothing but a huge plan put into motion many years ago to radically reform our educational system thus controlling the future generations minds and shaping the future. Thus birthing the next generation of little Socialists and Marxist hell bent on morphing our world into a one government, one world scenario.

Don’t just take my word for it. Read the info below, do your own additional  research and you will quickly see that Common Core is a federally funded and forced reality complete with the assistance of the UN and funded with the wallet of Bill Gates and his foundation.

The link below contains the timeline posted below and can be easily printed for your use to help spread the word about this nationalization of our public schools.

Click to access CCSS-timeline-bulletpoints.pdf

• 1988: Marc Tucker became the president of the National Center for Education and the Economy (NCEE) where he joined up with Hillary Clinton, Mario Cuomo, and Ira Magaziner to get states to move away from local control of their schools and migrate to national standards. (link)
http://mississippipep.wordpress.com/2011/09/03/controversial-author-marc-tucker-to-speak-at-ms-dept-of-education-statewide-forum-sept-14/

• 1990: George H. W. Bush signed an international agreement entitled, “World Education for All (EFA), the result of a United Nations “World Conference on Education for All” summit. (link)
http://www.restoreokpubliceducation.com/node/687

• 1991: Tucker and Lauren Resnick created New Standards that pushed standards-based reform. 

• 1992: Tucker writes “Dear Hillary Letter.” This letter, written to Hillary Clinton, addressed Tucker’s ideas for radical education reform after Bill Clinton’s presidential win. The goal is “to remold the entire American system” into “a seamless web that literally extends from cradle to grave and is the same systems for everyone,” coordinated by “a system of labor market boards at the local, state and federal levels” where curriculum and “job matching” will be handled by counselors “accessing the integrated computer-based program.” (link)

• 1994: Tucker’s ambitious plan was implemented in three laws passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton: the Goals 2000 Act, the School-to-Work Act Opportunities Act, and the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) called “Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994.” (link)

• 1996: An organization called ACHIEVE, Inc. was formed by the nation’s governors and corporate leaders. (Many of them tied to Marc Tucker and the NCEE). The goals from an Education Summit in Palisades, NY were to ACHIEVE the goals of the 1994 school reform bills. 

• 1998: Tucker and Judy Codding created America’s Choice, a comprehensive school reform program, that made sure the national standards were further implemented into schools.
http://www.timeandlearning.org/marc-tucker

• 2001: George W. Bush renames ESEA “The No Child Left Behind Act” and signed it into law.

• 2004: Microsoft (Bill Gates) contracts with UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to fulfill part of UNESCO’S Millennium Campaign Goals—universal education and educating for a global economy. A “master curriculum” for teacher training in information technologies based standards, guidelines, benchmarks, and assessment techniques is to be developed.
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/05/ed-watch/12-2-unesco-gates.htm

Below is Bill Gates agreement with the UN to make the push for radical reform in the United States as part of the Millenium Development Goals that many of our churches have joined to bring in a One World Religion.

(UNESCO / Gates Foundation Agreement)

Click to access CCSS_UNESCO_MICROSOFT_AGREEMENT.pdf

• 2005: Bill Gates funds the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce—created by Tucker. States begin adopting its education reform initiative, “Tough Choices or Tough Times.” In 2008, Utah’s Governor Huntsman touts it and joins with 5 others states (Massachusetts, Delaware, Arizona, New Mexico, and New Hampshire) who adopt it in order to “reinvent their educational systems.” 
http://www.skillscommission.org/?page_id=135

• 2008: Gates Foundation, along with two other foundations, created Strong American Schools (a successor to the STAND UP campaign launched in 2006, which was an outgrowth of UNESCO’s Millennium Campaign Goals for Universal Education). It calls for American education standards.
http://www.nms.org/Blog.aspx

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_Up_and_Take_Action

• 2008: Gates Foundation funds the International Benchmarking Advisory Group report for Common Core Standards on behalf of the National Governors Association, Council of Chief State School Officers, and ACHIEVE, Inc. titled, “Benchmarking for Success: Ensuring U.S. Students Receive a World-Class Education.” This report shows the United Nations is a member of the International Benchmarking Advisory Group for Common Core Standards. The member of mention is the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which developed UNESCO’s Millennium Declaration—partnering with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Click to access BenchmarkingforSuccess.pdf

The report states: While states must take the lead, the federal government can help. And the federal government can do that best by playing an enabling role grounded in a new vision for the historic state-federal partnership in education.
http://www.achieve.org/BenchmarkingforSuccess

• 2009:  Marc Tucker writes a chapter in the book “Change Wars: The Inspiring Future for Educational Change.” One chapter is called International Benchmarking as a Lever for Policy Reform. The book says the UN’s OECD launched Programme for International Student Assessment in 2000 to monitor the outcomes of education. Linda Darling-Hammond (Weather Underground with Bill Ayers) also contributes a chapter. Darling-Hammond heads the SBAC (see 2009, December below)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1934009318/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/185-5018575-2937229?qid=1330537718&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1

• April, 2009: Gates Foundation members, along with a few dozen others, participate in a Washington conference and produce “Smart Options: Investing the Recovery Funds for Student Success.” These ideas were funded by the 2008 Stimulus (ARRA-American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) and supported Race to the Top. Priority 1: Develop Common American Standards—also called Career-Ready Standards—in most states by January 2012. (link)

Click to access 429-arrasmartoptions.pdf

• 2009 (summer): Council of Chief State School Officers, National Governors Association, and ACHIEVE, Inc. agree to partner on a common core standards project.
This site has since been evidently taken down by those protecting the information.
http://www.wera-web.org/?s=2.2+SBAC+Overview.pdf&search_404=1

• 2009 (fall): The U.S. Dept. of Ed signals it will fund $360M for summative assessments aligned to Common Core Standards and begins planning meetings. Two consortia begin competing for this funding: Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. States begin adopting Common Core Standards and join one of the consortia in order to receive No Child Left Behind waivers from the U.S. Department of Education Secretary, Arne Duncan.
This info has also been taken down by those trying to control the information, but it was there and the link is provided but states it no longer exists.
http://www.wera-web.org/?s=2.2+SBAC+Overview.pdf&search_404=1

• 2009 (December): Utah becomes a governing member state of Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and is obligated to use the assessments created by the SBAC which is led by Bill Ayers’ friend, Linda Darling-Hammond. Judy Park, Associate Superintendent, Utah State Office of Ed, eventually co-chairs the Consortia.

Click to access Smarter-Balanced-Governance.pdf

• 2009 (December): Gates Foundation gives the National PTA a $1 million grant to mobilize parents for Common Core Standards.
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Search#q/k=Common%20core%20race%20to%20the%20top

The second link has also been removed but this one exists:
http://www.pta.org/search/searchresults.cfm

• June, 2010: National Governors Association and State Education Chiefs launch Common State Academic Standards.
http://www.corestandards.org/articles/8-national-governors-association-and-state-education-chiefs-launch-common-state-academic-standards

• April 2011: The SBAC Overview Curriculum and Assessment Conference issues a report stating that governing member states “must” adopt Common Core by Dec. 31, 2011. Note this does not say the states must create the standards, it says the states must adopt! Adopt meaning here they are…..use them and get a bundle of money to do so.

Click to access sbac_overview.pdf

• 2011: The American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) education task force calls for the demise of the Common Core Standards, but puts it on hold after receiving a $376,635 grant from the Gates Foundation. Reminder: A couple of TN legislators hold key positions within this organization.
http://www.missourieducationwatchdog.com/2011/12/bill-gates-gift-to-alec-376635-reasons.html?m=1

• 2011: Bill Gates speaks at the November G20 Summit in Cannes and issues his report, “Innovation With Impact: Financing 21st Century Development” stating, “My report will address the financing needed to achieve maximum progress on the Millennium Development Goals, and to make faster progress on development over the next decade.”
This site info has also been taken away!
http://americanpolicy.org/2012/01/04/global-poverty-act-is-back-is-bill-gates-the-world%E2%80%99s-richest-useful-idiot/

• 2011: Obama Education Secretary Arne Duncan announces “Today, I promise you that [the Department of Education] will be a committed partner in the national effort to build a more environmentally literate and responsible society… We must advance the sustainability movement through education… Education and sustainability are the keys to our economic future-and our ecological future.” (link)
http://www.uspartnership.org/main/view_archive/1

• 2012: States begin to recognize the loss of local control and enormous cost of implementation of the Common Core Standards. Many states begin pushing back. The Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute call the standards unconstitutional per federal education law.

• 2012: States not on Common Core and not meeting the Annual Yearly Progress requirements of NCLB petition congress for relief. Lawmakers working on options are undercut when the Obama White House circumvents congress to grant waivers from NCLB if states adopt Common Core.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/02/09/no-child-left-behind-waivers-let-team-obama-seize-control-your-childs-education/

Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott stated that the common standards movement amounted to a “desire for a federal takeover of public education.” Now, additional states (who originally signed on), including Massachusetts, Iowa, Kansas, and Virginia, are expressing concerns about the common standards initiative.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/02/09/no-child-left-behind-waivers-let-team-obama-seize-control-your-childs-education/

Gov. Nikki Haley just signed a letter supporting legislation in South Carolina to block CCSS implementation stating, “South Carolina shouldn’t relinquish control to a consensus of states any more than the federal government.”
This site has also been removed:
http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/16947979/bill-would-block-education-standards-in-sc

It is so obvious the standards did not begin with the states, they were picked up by a determined messenger (Gates) from a higher entity (UN) and delivered to many non governmental agencies, wrapped up nicely and delivered to the states in the form of bribes (RTTT Grants) 

Bill Gates’ Foundation contributes 10s of millions, during this time frame for consideration and development of the Common Core initiative. See below: 

Counsel of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO): 2009–$9,961,842, 2009–$3,185,750, 2010–$743,331, 2011–$9,388,911

National Governor’s Association (NGA): 2008–$2,259,780

Mark Tucker’s NCEE: 2009–$1,500,000

Total: $27,000,000

To any who still harbor the illusion that Common Core State Standards were the product of the states simply coming together, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you.

Special thanks to the many people involved in digging this information up. Much work has been done by people all around the country to put this information together and help follow the money trail. Please do your part now in passing this information on to everyone you know so they can be educated about what the Common Core Initiative is really all about.

ALEC- Big corporation “bill mill” members revealed, has local ties

Revealing a “bill mill” member list that has numerous corporate influences has proven to be a difficult task. Although no one really appears to want to be associated with this group, the list has been evasive but not insurmountable.

In case you were wandering, TN State Rep 24 District Kevin Brooks and State Senator 9th District Mike Bell are on this list with Julia Hurley, Gerald McCormick and recently RINO hunted and ousted Debra Maggart.

ALEC’s own website misdirected me and left me with no results when I pressed the tab for a complete membership list. This prompted me to request via email to a Mrs K. Jones to reveal that list, which at the time of this posting has not been answered.

The level of influence this semi secretive fascist group has on legislation that hits the State Senate and House floor is phenomenal. ALEC boasts about a thousand successful bills that have ranged from cutting large corporate taxes to defunding public schools and shifting public money to private education.

Largely this group identifies itself as a conservative group with grassroots ties but many of their proposed bills over the years has suggested otherwise.

Scanning over the list of elected and non elected officials I see many RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) tied to NGOs (Non Governmental Organizations) and PPPs (Public Private Partnerships)

It does not surprise me that the Gates Foundation recently donated almost a half million dollars to the group to promote educational And other issues but later pulled it’s membership but left it’s donation. Sort of tells me they were in and out with the cash. Sort of like a lobbyist would do to get a bill passed.

The KOCH brothers essentially creating and funding this organization with many corporate membership fees deepens the involvement of the bureaucracy that is influencing our elected officials and getting their bills to the house floor. Being of multi billion dollar oil fortunes, it again doesnt surprise me that around 15 oil companies are on the corporate list of manipulators.

Struggling public schools are meeting heavier challenges as ALEC passes legislation through it’s educational committee that is crippling the local education cash flow. Our very own 24th District Tennessee State Representative Kevin Brooks is on the education board.

I am all about we need to reign in our public schools and the endless flow of taxpayer dollars that get sucked up by huge vacuums of red tape and lucrative paying jobs for top brass. I think it is more important to recognize those that are behind the scenes making this more difficult. Our State Legislator publicly supports public education but the “model legislation” that cones out of ALEC is the opposite. I am preparing a blog about the bills that have been passed through ALEC’s Education committee to support my claim. The info is out there it is just disguised very well and warrants many hours of research to expose it.

Take a look at the people, the companies and the outside organizations, many international, that are working with ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) to influence legislation that affects you.

At first glance you think these bills that are being tossed out of ALEC are the genius of a very productive legislator or Senator, when in fact they are nothing more than a clone of a big corporation with an avenue to destroy the free market through favoritism and manipulation.

ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC’s operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy’s ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.

Tennessee legislators and Senators that are members of ALEC. Not surprising locally our very own State Representative Kevin Brooks and State Senator Mike Bell are on board with this fascist group.
http://www.tndp.org/m/blogpost?id=2933001%3ABlogPost%3A53627

A complete list of ALEC politicians past and present that are acting as corporate drones.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ALEC_Politicians#Task_Force_Politicians

A complete list of corporations that are driving legislation that favors their interests.
http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=8078765

Large coporations that have bailed out of ALEC recently because of controversy.
http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=8232981

Remember these comments and opinion on this page are conclusions based on fact and hours of research. The pleasing long term result for me is now you get to make up your own mind and come to your own conclusion and we all sleep better at night knowing we are now informed. Have a great day!

A.L.E.C.- Koch Brothers manipulating legislators to push “model legislation”

What is ALEC?
The American Legislative Exchange Council-(ALEC)

BCN Note- Deep within our state legislative and Senate house a semi secretive organization exists that wines and dines select State Legislators and State Senators in hopes of grabbing a vote on “model legislation” that favors big corporations and essentially leaves the little guy at a steep disadvantage.

While many fail to mention they are in this covert group, understandibly many can easily see how one can adapt to the loss of memory if the kick back or benefit of membership into this club is high enough.

These elected officials are coerced into passing or submitting legislation that favors huge business with lucrative trips and gifts. Some have even been known to accept a stripper or two according to some sources. They sit side by side with leaders of large corporations that directly influence coporate policy in exchange for a bill and a vote that passes the muster.

The free market was designed to function as a complete entity separate from manipulation and coercion. It cannot exist as long as a few have the power and influence. This action will somehow tip the balance severing the free market and causing it to collapse as we are seeing now as we inch closer to a depression.

You will have a real tough time believing who locally is on this corporate panel that favors large corporations. The hand is out once again and it’s saying “show me the money!” I am working on a list of Senators and legislators who participate in this ample reward club.

ALEC is not a lobby; (although it functions as one) it is not a front group (although it is a “think tank” for large corporations with plenty of money to blow on the lifeless soul of an elected official.

It is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, behind closed doors, corporations hand state legislators the changes to the law they desire that directly benefit their bottom line.

Along with legislators, corporations have membership in ALEC. Corporations sit on all nine ALEC task forces and vote with legislators to approve “model” bills. They have their own corporate governing board which meets jointly with the legislative board. (ALEC says that corporations do not vote on the board.) Corporations fund almost all of ALEC’s operations.

Participating legislators, overwhelmingly conservative Republicans, then bring those proposals home and introduce them in statehouses across the land as their own brilliant ideas and important public policy innovations—without disclosing that corporations crafted and voted on the bills.

ALEC boasts that it has over 1,000 of these bills introduced by legislative members every year, with one in every five of them enacted into law. ALEC describes itself as a “unique,” “unparalleled” and “unmatched” organization. We agree. It is as if a state legislature had been reconstituted, yet corporations had pushed the people out the door.

Who funds ALEC?

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. For more, see CMD’s special report on ALEC funding and spending here.

Is it nonpartisan as claimed?

ALEC describes itself as a non-partisan, non-profit organization. The facts show that it currently has one Democrat out of 104 legislators in leadership positions.

ALEC members, speakers, alumni, and award winners are a “who’s who” of the extreme right. ALEC has given awards to: Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, George H.W. Bush, Charles and David Koch, Richard de Vos, Tommy Thompson, Gov. John Kasich, Gov. Rick Perry, Congressman Mark Foley (intern sex scandal), and Congressman Billy Tauzin. ALEC alumni include: Speaker of the House John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Congressman Joe Wilson, (who called President Obama a “liar” during the State of the Union address), former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, former House Speaker Tom DeLay, Andrew Card, Donald Rumsfeld (1985 Chair of ALEC’s Business Policy Board), Governor Scott Walker, Governor Jan Brewer, and more. Featured speakers have included: Milton Friedman, Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney, Dan Quayle, George Allen, Jessie Helms, Pete Coors, Governor Mitch Daniels and more. (That’s a huge collection of mostly RINOs, a few exceptions perhaps)

What goes on behind closed doors?

The organization boasts 2,000 legislative members and 300 or more corporate members. The unelected corporate representatives (often registered lobbyists) sit as equals with elected representatives on nine task forces where they have a “voice and a vote” on model legislation.

Corporations on ALEC task forces VOTE on the “model” bills and resolutions, and sit as equals with legislators voting on the ALEC task forces and various working groups. Corporate and legislative governing boards also meet jointly each year. (ALEC says only the legislators have a final say on all model bills. ALEC has previously said that “The policies are debated and voted on by all members. Public and private members vote separately on policy. It is important to note that laws are not passed, debated or adopted during this process and therefore no lobbying takes place. That process is done at the state legislature.”)

The long-term representation of Koch Industries on the governing board means that Koch has had influence over an untold number of ALEC bills. Due to the questionable nature of this partnership with corporations, legislators rarely discuss the origins of the model legislation they bring home. Though thousands of ALEC-approved model bills have been publicly introduced across the country, ALEC’s role facilitating the language in the bills and the corporate vote for them is not well known.

(ALEC legislators sometimes compare the organization to the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), yet the two organizations could not be more different. NCSL has zero corporate members. It is funded largely by state government appropriations and conference fees; it has a truly bipartisan governance structure, and there is a large role for nonpartisan professional staff; it does not vote on or promote model legislation; meetings are public and so are any agreed upon documents. Corporations do sponsor receptions at NCSL events through a separate foundation. For more information, see the document ALEC & NCSL.)

How do corporations benefit?

Although ALEC claims to take an ideological stance (of supposedly “Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism, and individual liberty”), many of the model bills benefit the corporations whose agents write them, shape them, and/or vote to approve them. These are just a few such measures:
Altria/Philip Morris USA benefits from ALEC’s newest tobacco legislation — an extremely narrow tax break for moist tobacco that would make fruit flavored tobacco products cheaper and more attractive to youngsters.

Health insurance companies such as Humana and Golden Rule Insurance (United Healthcare), benefit directly from ALEC model bills, such as the Health Savings Account bill that just passed in Wisconsin.
Tobacco firms such as Reynolds and pharmaceutical firms such as Bayer benefit directly from ALEC tort reform measures that make it harder for Americans to sue when injured by dangerous products.

Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) benefits directly from the anti-immigrant legislation introduced in Arizona and other states that requires expanded incarceration and housing of immigrants, along with other bills from ALEC’s crime task force. (While CCA has stated that it left ALEC in late 2010 after years of membership on the Criminal Justice Task Force and even co-chairing it, its prison privatization bills remain ALEC “models.”)
Connections Academy, a large online education corporation and co-chair of the Education Task Force, benefits from ALEC measures to privatize public education and promote private on-line schools.

How do legislators benefit?

Why would a legislator be interested in advancing cookie-cutter bills that are corporate give-aways for global firms located outside of their district? ALEC’s appeal rests largely on the fact that legislators receive an all-expenses-paid trip that provides many part-time legislators with vacations that they could not afford on their own, along with the opportunity to rub shoulders with wealthy captains of industry (major prospective out-of-state donors to their political campaigns).

For a few hours of work on a task force and a couple of indoctrination sessions by ALEC experts, part-time legislators can bring the whole family to ALEC’s annual convention, work for a few hours, then stay in swank hotels, attend cool parties — even strip clubs– and raise funds for the campaign coffer, all heavily subsidized by the corporate till. In 2009, ALEC spent $251,873 on childcare so mom and dad could have fun.

Is it lobbying?

In most ordinary people’s view, handing bills to legislators so they can introduce them is the very definition of lobbying. ALEC says “no lobbying takes place.” The current chairman of ALEC’s corporate board is W. Preston Baldwin III, until recently a lobbyist and the Vice President of State Government Affairs at UST Inc., a tobacco firm now owned by Altria/Phillip Morris USA. Altria is advancing a very short, specific bill to change the way moist tobacco products (such as fruit flavored “snus”) are taxed– to make it cheaper and more attractive to young tobacco users according to health experts.

In fact, 20 of the 24 corporate representatives on ALEC’s “Private Enterprise Board” are lobbyists representing major firms such as Koch Industries, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, Wal-Mart and Johnson and Johnson.
ALEC makes old-fashioned lobbying obsolete. Once legislators return to their state with corporate-sponsored ALEC legislation in hand, the legislators themselves become “super-lobbyists” for ALEC’s corporate agenda, cutting out the middleman. Yet ALEC enjoys a 501(c)(3) classification, which allows it to keep its tax-exempt status while accepting grants from foundations, corporations, and other donors.

In our view, the activities that corporate members engage in should be considered lobbying by the IRS, and the entity that facilitates that effort to influence state law, ALEC, should also be considered to be engaged predominantly in lobby-related activities, not simply “educational” activities. Re-classifying ALEC as primarily engaged in lobbying facilitation would mean that donations to it would not count as tax-deductible for businesses and foundations. Common Cause filed a complaint with the IRS on July 14, 2011, setting forth evidence supporting its complaint that ALEC is engaged in lobbying despite its claims to do no lobbying.

Is it legal?

ALEC’s operating model raises many ethical and legal concerns. Each state has a different set of ethics laws or rules. The presence of lobbyists alone may cause ethics problems for some state legislators. Wisconsin, for instance, generally requires legislators who go to events with registered lobbyists to pay on their own dime, yet in many states, legislators use public funds to attend ALEC meetings.

According to one study, $3 million in public funds was spent to
attend ALEC meetings in one year. Some legislators use their personal funds and are reimbursed by ALEC. Such “scholarships” may be disclosed if gifts are required to be reported. But should the legislators be allowed to accept this money when lobbyists are present at the meeting? Still other legislators use their campaign funds to go and are again reimbursed by ALEC; in some states, campaign funds are only allowed to be used to attend campaign events.
In short, many state ethics codes might consider the free vacation, steeply discounted membership fees, free day care or travel scholarships to be “gifts” that should be disallowed or disclosed.

This is a great site, please visit frequently and encourage more to stand up against injustice and attacks on our sovereignty! Thanks for the exposing ALEC website and providing most of the dialogue above except for a few commentaries and for telling it like it is. Go to the site below for more information in ALEC.

http://alecexposed.org/wiki/What_is_ALEC%3F