Statement by Alan P. Dye on Latest Harassment Tactic Against ALEC by Liberal Front Groups

WASHINGTON – Alan P. Dye, legal counsel to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), issued the following statement in response to the frivolous IRS complaint by Common Cause against ALEC:

“The attacks on the American Legislative Exchange Council are based on patently false claims being made by liberal front groups that differ with ALEC on philosophical terms.

“The current complaint mostly ignores applicable law and distorts what it does not ignore. After three decades of counseling clients on nonprofit and federal disclosure requirements, it’s clear to me that this is a tired campaign to abuse the legal system, distort the facts and tarnish the reputation of ideological foes.

“Without question, Common Cause is a partisan front group masquerading as an ethics watchdog.”

ALEC Sharpens Focus on Jobs, Free Markets and Growth — Announces the End of the Task Force that Dealt with Non-Economic Issues

(Washington, D.C.) April 17, 2012—David Frizzell, Indiana State Representative and 2012 National Chairman of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), issued the following statement today on behalf of ALEC’s Legislative Board of Directors:

“Today we are redoubling our efforts on the economic front, a priority that has been the hallmark of our organization for decades. Fostering the exchange of pro-growth, solutions-oriented ideas is precisely why ALEC exists.

“To that end, our legislative board last week unanimously agreed to further our work on policies that will help spur innovation and competitiveness across the country.

“We are refocusing our commitment to free-market, limited government and pro-growth principles, and have made changes internally to reflect this renewed focus.

“We are eliminating the ALEC Public Safety and Elections task force that dealt with non-economic issues, and reinvesting these resources in the task forces that focus on the economy. The remaining budgetary and economic issues will be reassigned.

“While we recognize there are other critical, non-economic issues that are vitally important to millions of Americans, we believe we must concentrate on initiatives that spur competitiveness and innovation and put more Americans back to work.

“Our free-market, limited government, pro-growth policies are the reason ALEC enjoys the support of legislators on both sides of the aisle and in all 50 states. ALEC members are interested in solutions that put the American economy back on track. This is our mission, and it is what distinguishes us.”

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The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the nation’s largest nonpartisan individual membership association of state legislators, with over 2,000 state legislators across the nation and more than 100 alumni members in Congress. ALEC’s mission is to promote free markets, limited government, and federalism throughout the states.

Statement by ALEC on Intimidation Campaign Motives Becoming More Obvious by the Day 

(Washington, D.C.) April 13, 2012—Ron Scheberle, Executive Director of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), issued the following statement today in response to the motives behind the intimidation campaign against its members:

“The true motives behind the liberal attack machine are becoming clearer each day.

“At a time when Washington is gridlocked, the real legislative activity is happening in the states. This week, ALEC released its annual study, Rich States, Poor States. It found that some states are making the right policy choices for creating jobs; others are clinging to discredited ideas that will foster economic malaise.

“The states doing the best are the ones that focus on lower taxes, capital formation and policies that encourage risk-taking. These are the policies that ALEC believes in, and are antithetical to those attacking us.   

“The states doing poorly have confiscatory tax rates, innovation-stifling regulations, too many bureaucrats and favor redistributionist policies. 

“These are the ideas the attackers want to impose on government at every level. The dividing lines could not be clearer, or obvious.”    

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The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the nation’s largest nonpartisan individual membership association of state legislators, with over 2,000 state legislators across the nation and more than 100 alumni members in Congress. ALEC’s mission is to promote free markets, limited government, and federalism throughout the states.

Statement by ALEC in Response to the Outpouring of Support in Wake of Intimidation Campaign Against Its Members 

(Washington, D.C.) April 12, 2012—Ron Scheberle, Executive Director of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), issued the following statement today in response to the support the organization has received in response to the intimidation campaign against its members:

“Over the last 24 hours, ALEC has been inundated with letters of support from elected officials, community leaders and concerned citizens in response to the intimidation campaign launched by a coalition of extreme liberal activists committed to silencing anyone who disagrees with their agenda.   

“I am thankful for the support and want to take this opportunity to remind people what we are facing:

“First, the people now attacking ALEC and its members are the same people who have always pushed for big-government solutions. Our support for free markets and limited government stands in stark contrast to their state-dependent utopia. This is not about one piece of legislation. This is an attempt to silence our organization and it has been going on for more than a year.

“Second, ALEC is one of America’s premier ideas laboratories when it comes to advocating free market reforms. We are a target because our opponents believe they have the opportunity to attack an effective, successful organization that promotes free-market, limited government policies that they disagree with. We work to promote the Freedom of Choice in Health Care initiative against ObamaCare’s individual mandate. We support fair tax policies and tort reform. This is an all-out intimidation campaign designed to promote government-based solutions rather than the free-market principles that we have seen work.

“Finally, now more than ever, America needs organizations like ALEC to foster the discussion and debate of policy differences in an open, transparent way and not fall back on bullying, intimidation and threats.” 

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The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the nation’s largest nonpartisan individual membership association of state legislators, with over 2,000 state legislators across the nation and more than 100 alumni members in Congress. ALEC’s mission is to promote free markets, limited government, and federalism throughout the states.

New Report Ranks Economic Competitiveness in the 50 States

Washington, D.C. (April 11, 2012) — The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) announced the release of the highly anticipated fifth edition of Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index. This report explains how state policymakers can most effectively drive economic growthand improve the standard of living for their citizens.

The award-winning Rich States, Poor States is widely used by state legislators, Democrat and Republican alike. The publication outlines two sets of state rankings. An economic performance ranking is based on the past 10 years of economic data and takes into consideration income, population, and job growth. An economic outlook ranking uses 15 equallyweighted policy variables, including various tax rates, regulatory burdens, and labor policies. This year, Utah ranked first in the nation, while New York ranked dead last.

The authors analyze state policies to determine which policies produce the best results for state economic growth and job creation. Based on the evidence from this report, world-renowned economist and co-author of the report Dr. Arthur B. Laffer says, “Increasing taxes on productive activities, such as working, saving, or investing only discourages economic output and hurts the potential for real economic recovery.”

Laffer and his co-authors, Stephen Moore, senior economics writer at The Wall Street Journal, and Jonathan Williams, director of ALEC’s Center for State Fiscal Reform, outline the policies that make the most significant impact on economic vitality and job creation. Data from the latest U.S. census reveals a clear link between high state taxes, and slower economic growth. The authors show how taxpayers “vote with their feet and dollars,” moving to states with competitive businesses policies.

“State policies are not enacted in a vacuum,” says Williams. “The decisions of state policymakers directly affect efforts to retain and attract both human and investment capital. States cannot spend, borrow, or tax their way into prosperity. Just ask Illinois or New York.”

TOP FIVE STATES                            BOTTOM FIVE STATES

1. Utah                                               46.Hawaii

2. South Dakota                                 47.Maine

3. Virginia                                           48.Illinois

4. Wyoming                                        49.Vermont

5. North Dakota                                  50.New York

Find out where your state ranks in the ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index and learn more about the state policies that lead to economic growth in this year’s edition of Rich States, Poor States. The full-text PDF is available for free on ALEC’s website: www.alec.org/rsps.

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The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the nation’s largest nonpartisan individual membership association of state legislators, with over 2,000 state legislators across the nation and more than 100 alumni members in Congress. ALEC’s mission is to promote free markets, limited government, and federalism throughout the states.

Contact: Kaitlyn Buss
Phone: 202-742-8526
Email: kbuss@alec.org

Statement by ALEC on the Coordinated Intimidation Campaign Against Its Members

(Washington, D.C.) April 11, 2012—Ron Scheberle, Executive Director of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) issued the following statement today in response to the coordinated and well-funded intimidation campaign against corporate members of the organization:

ALEC is an organization that supports pro-growth, pro-jobs policies and the vigorous exchange of ideas between the public and private sector to develop state based solutions. Today, we find ourselves the focus of a well-funded, expertly coordinated intimidation campaign.

Our members join ALEC because we connect state legislators with other state legislators and with job-creators in their states. They join because we support pro-business policies that promote innovation and spur local and national competitiveness. They’re ALEC members because they’re more interested in solutions than rhetoric.

For years, ALEC has partnered with legislators to research and develop better, more effective public policies – legislation that creates a more transparent, accountable government, policies that place a priority on free enterprise and consumer choice, and tax policies that are fair, simple and that spur the kind of competiveness that puts Americans back to work.

At a time when job creation, real solutions and improved dialogue among political leaders is needed most, ALEC’s mission has never been more important. This is why we are redoubling our commitment to these essential priorities.  We are not and will not be defined by ideological special interests who would like to eliminate discourse that leads to economic vitality, jobs and fiscal stability for the states.

Ron Scheberle
Executive Director, American Legislative Exchange Council

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 The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the nation’s largest nonpartisan individual membership association of state legislators, with over 2,000 state legislators across the nation and more than 100 alumni members in Congress. ALEC’s mission is to promote free markets, limited government, and federalism throughout the states.

ALEC Calls for Privacy Solutions to Protect Consumer Choice 

Today the chairmen of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s Communications and Technology Task Force called for the Obama Administration to protect consumers, their online privacy choices, and the growing digital economy as part of a multistakeholder process for developing a code of conduct for online consumer privacy now underway. The chairmen submitted written comments at the request of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is coordinating the multistakeholder process.

The comment states: “Privacy is an important value, but that value should not come at the expense of curtailing a dynamic sector of the national economy and the freedom for consumers to protect their own privacy.” The entire comment is available here.

The comment is based on the ALEC Statement of Principles for Online Consumer Privacy, which was adopted in 2003. According to the Statement, “The most effective privacy policies provide notice, choice, security, and access; individuals should be free to select the policy that best fits their needs.”

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ALEC is the nation’s largest nonpartisan, individual membership organization of state legislations who share a common commitment to the Jeffersonian principles of individual liberty, limited government, and free markets. Visit http://www.alec.org/ for more information.