From ProgressIowa.org:
Hewlett-Packard, Deere, BestBuy, CVS, and MillerCoors dump ALEC
When will Iowa stop sending tax dollars to this extreme organization?
DES MOINES, IOWA — Five additional companies have left the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC): Hewlett-Packard, John Deere, BestBuy, CVS, and MillerCoors, in an announcement made today. In total, twenty five corporations, four major non-profits, and fifty five confirmed elected leaders have dropped out of ALEC since the killing of Trayvon Martin in February.
“Today five prominent corporations have added their names to a long list of those who realize that ALEC should be prevented from influencing our legislative process,” said Matt Sinovic, executive director of Progress Iowa. “When will Iowa legislators stop using our tax dollars to fund such an extreme organization?”
In May, Iowa State Representative Brian Quirk announced he was cancelling his membership in ALEC, and went on to say that “ALEC is not the bipartisan organization it claims to be. I disagree with ALEC’s extreme agenda and the partisan way in which they operate. Our tax dollars should never be spent on funding such a partisan organization.”
In April, Progress Iowa began a petition campaign to stop taxpayer money from funding state legislative membership in ALEC. The petition can be found here: http://bit.ly/IowaALEC
ALEC is a secretive, corporate front group that drafts legislation, allowing Iowa legislators to pass it off as their own – turning them into what the New York Times calls “stealth lobbyists”. According to the Center for Media and Democracy, ALEC has provided model legislation in Iowa to suppress voter rights, withdraw from regional environmental partnerships, and require ‘intellectual diversity’ reporting from our college campuses. ALEC also holds direct influence in the Iowa legislature, with State Representative and House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer serving as Second Vice Chairman on ALEC’s Board of Directors.
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Background:
John Deere, CVS Caremark, MillerCoors, HP, and Best Buy will no longer fund American Legislative Exchange Council
http://colorofchange.org/press/releases/2012/7/10/five-more-major-companies-will-no-longer-fund-alec/
Brian Quirk cancels ALEC membership
http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/brian-quirk-cancels-alec-membership/article_1e1fac1f-9ede-54d6-bc03-3a64a6d2e7a1.html
ALEC-modeled legislation introduced in Iowa
http://alecexposed.org/wiki/Iowa
About ALEC (Board of Directors, listing Rep. Upmeyer as Second Vice Chair)
http://www.alec.org/about-alec/board-of-directors/
