\u2026a trove of more than 800 “model” bills and resolutions secretly voted on by corporations and politicians through ALEC. These bills reveal the corporate collaboration reshaping our democracy, state by state.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Until ALEC Exposed came along, these \u201cmodel\u201d bills were available only to members on ALEC\u2019s password-protected site.<\/p>\n ALEC bills, which largely benefit the organization\u2019s corporate members, have been introduced in legislatures in every state\u2014but without disclosing to the public that corporations previously drafted or voted on them through ALEC.<\/p>\n Before ALEC Exposed published these bills, it was difficult to trace the numerous controversial and extreme provisions popping up in legislatures across the country directly to ALEC and its corporate underwriters.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Center obtained copies of the bills after one of the thousands of people with access shared them, and a whistle-blower provided a copy to the Center.<\/p>\n The bills and resolutions, says ALEC Exposed, affect worker and consumer rights, education, the rights of Americans injured or killed by corporations, taxes, health care, immigration, and environmental issues. The Center for Media and Democracy has analyzed and annotated the bills and resolutions to help readers understand what the bills do, which often is the exact opposite of their public-relations-shaped and frequently Orwellian-double-speak titles.<\/p>\n Only by seeing the depth and breadth and language of the bills can one fully understand the power and sweep of corporate influence behind the scenes on bills affecting the rights and future of every American in every single state.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n ALEC Exposed invites readers to engage in the analysis and dialogue\u2014not just through comments, but as active analysts and reporters. The site encourages readers to report on ALEC-created bills in their own states and to document the corporations, organizations and politicians who are backing them. To this end, the site offers a Wikipedia-like format open to contributors\u2019 findings and observations.<\/p>\n A good example of an analysis of how ALEC’s model bills have shaped state legislation<\/a>–in Missouri– has just been published at Progress Missouri<\/a>.The report not only shows the direct connection between ALEC’s model language and specific bills introduced in the Missouri Legislature, it also names names, revealing which state legislators backed the ALEC-dictated bills.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>A new website\u2014ALEC Exposed<\/a>\u2014is shedding much-needed light on the politically conservative American Legislative Exchange Council [ALEC]. Launched on July 13, 2011 by the Center for Media and Democracy, ALEC Exposed offers:<\/p>\n