A week or so ago, I put together a rudimentary post on how the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) contributed toward the recent flurry of regressive legislative activity that took place in Michigan. Well, our friend Bob Sloan, writing for PolicyMic.com, just dug quite a bit deeper. Here’s how his piece begins.
Fact: 282 bills were passed in Michigan during the lame duck session. 42% of all the bills passed in the last two years were in this last lame duck session, with 180 votes taken on the last day of the 2012 session alone.
Fact: In the session from Dec 13 to Dec 14 (ending at 4:29AM), 180 roll-call votes were held. This took place in the 18 hours leading up to the ending of lame duck.
No sooner had the GOP secured total control of Michigan in 2010, holding majorities in both houses and winning the governorship, than the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a right-wing ultra-conservative “bill mill” and THE source of money and corruption in politics today, lept into action. ALEC wasted no time in sending many of their most onerous “model legislation” bills to Michigan. These included the Emergency Manager law, privatization of public schools, expansion of charter schools, HB 5221 (Voter ID Act), which required voters to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote, and HB 4305 with language similar to ALEC’s model “Immigration Law Enforcement Act.”
In fact, all of these proposed bills have language that is nearly identical to ALEC’s model legislation, most were introduced by ALEC member Rep. Dave Agema, co-sponsored by fellow ALEC members. ALEC member Sen. Mike Green (R-Mayville) sponsored legislation to allow concealed guns in schools, bars, hospitals and day care centers (passed, but vetoed by Governor Snyder).
The sponsor of gun legislation to allow concealed guns in schools, bars, hospitals, and day care centers was —Sen. Mike Green, R-Mayville, one of 25 known Michigan ALEC members (Governor Snyder surprised everyone on December 18th by vetoing this legislation!)
As for the Right to Work (RTW) legislation, it was sponsored by multiple ALEC members: House Bill 4054 by Rep. Tom McMillan and Rep. Peter Lund, and House Bill 4003, sponsored by McMillan and ALEC members Amanda Price, Aric Nesbitt, Kenneth Kurtz, Kenneth Horn and Judson Gilbert. There were no committee meetings or public hearings on RTW because the bill’s supporters used a practice allowed by Michigan law in a lame duck year, termed: “vehicle bills” (inserting language after first reading to create “substitution bills” – changes not available to the public or the opposition).
In Michigan, some key tactics used include: “immediate effect” of GOP legislation; extensive use of “vehicle bills” in the Lame Duck session, often provided by the Koch-funded Mackinac Center; and “legislation by amendment.” That this is done in the lame duck session is significant also because some 25% of those voting during this session will not be in the next legislature…
[note: More on the nefarious activities of ALEC can be found here. And, if you’re interested in knowing more about Bob Sloan, the author of this piece, I interviewed him not too long ago about the incredible investigative work he’s been doing concerning the widespread use of prison labor.]
5 Comments
Where is the left-wing ultra-progressive “bill mill” to counter ALEC?
Progressives aren’t nearly as well-funded and evil. There are liberal think tanks, but my sense is that they aren’t even remotely as devious. The Republicans don’t just wait for opportunities. They make them happen. And they’re willing to by ruthless. There’s no way, for instance, that Democratic leadership would have exploited a lame-duck session they way that we just saw it happen in Michigan.
And, speaking of prison labor, did you see this?
“Are Your Christmas Gifts Made in the Chinese Gulag?”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/27/are-your-christmas-gifts-made-in-the-chinese-gulag.html
I thought we *were* well funded and evil now. I’m a great supporter of more wonky answers to the conservative problem. Advocacy is great, but a little work on the inside would do us a world of good. If the smart people who ran Obama’s campaign applied themselves accordingly it seems like they might have an impact. Even if it was only to provide templates for people out in the states and even at more minute levels.
Kate and Kristin,
Work is being done. The following is from the Nation:
Read more:
http://www.thenation.com/blog/167186/building-progressive-counterforce-alec#
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