Pressured
by watchdog groups, civil rights organizations and a growing national movement
for accountable lawmaking, the American Legislative Exchange Council announced
Tuesday that it was disbanding the task force that has been responsible for
advancing controversial Voter ID and “Stand Your Ground” laws.
ALEC, the
shadowy corporate-funded proponent of so-called “model legislation” for passage
by pliant state legislatures, announced that it would disband its “Public
Safety and Elections” task force. The task force has been the prime vehicle for
proposing and advancing what critics describe as voter-suppression and
anti-democratic initiatives—not just restrictive Voter ID laws but also plans
to limit the ability of citizens to petition for referendums and constitutional
changes that favor workers and communities. The task force has also been the source of so-called “Castle Doctrine” and “Stand Your Ground” laws that limit
the ability of police and prosecutors to pursue inquiries into shootings of
unarmed individuals such as Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.
The
decision to disband the task force appears to get ALEC out of the business of
promoting Voter ID and “Stand Your Ground” laws. That’s a dramatic turn of
events, with significant implications for state-based struggles over voting
rights an elections, as well as criminal justice policy. But it does not mean
that ALEC will stop promoting one-size-fits-all “model legislation” at the
state level.
Indeed, the
disbanding of the “Public Safety and Elections” task force looks in every sense
to be a desperate attempt to slow an exodus of high-profile corporations from
the group’s membership roll.
Anger over
initial failure of Florida police and prosecutors to address Martin’s shooting
led to an intense focus on the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law, and on the role
of ALEC and the National Rifle Association in passing similar laws in states
across the country.
That
expanded interest in ALEC, a conservative “bill mill” that has been under
scrutiny since the Center for Media and Democracy and The Nation launched the
“ALEC Exposed” project last summer.
Pressure by
CMD, civil rights groups such as the NAACP, the Urban League and ColorOfChange
and good government organizations such as Common Cause and People for the
American Way—which have expressed concern with ALEC’s meddling in public safety
and democracy debates at the state level—has in recent weeks led to decisions
by Coca-Cola, Pepsi, McDonald’s and other corporations to drop their affiliations with ALEC.
In many
cases, the corporations that have quit ALEC have suggested that—while they were
comfortable working with the right-wing group in order to advocate on behalf of
tax and regulatory policies that are favorable to their business interests—they
are ill at ease being drawn into debates about issues such as voting rights and
gun control.
ALEC’s
decision to disband the Public Safety and Elections task force—which worked on
those issues—cannot be seen as anything other than a response to the pressure
the group has felt as high-profile corporate members have been quitting it on
an almost daily basis.
While the
group is not acknowledging as much, its statement on the disbanding of the task
force speaks volumes.
“We are
refocusing our commitment to free-market, limited government and pro-growth
principles, and have made changes internally to reflect this renewed focus,”
announced Indiana State Representative David Frizzell, ALEC’s nationalchairman. “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.”
While this
is a dramatic development in the struggle to expose and challenge ALEC’s
one-size-fits all assault on local and state democracy, it should be remembered
that ALEC remains a prime proponent—via task forces working in other areas—of
state-based assaults on labor rights, environmental protections and public
education.
“Dozens of
corporations are investing millions of dollars a year to write
business-friendly legislation that is being made into law in statehouses coast
to coast, with no regard for the public interest,” explains Bob Edgar of Common Cause. “This is proof positive of the depth and scope of the corporate reach
into our democratic processes.”
ColorOfChange
Executive Director Rashad Robinson promised that the group's advocacy would
continue.
"ALEC
has spent years promoting voter suppression laws, Kill at Will bills, and other
policies that hurt Black and other marginalized communities. They have have
done this with the support of some of America's biggest corporations, including
AT&T, Johnson & Johnson and State Farm," said Robinson.
"ALEC's latest statement is nothing more than a PR stunt aimed at
diverting attention from its agenda, which has done serious damage to our
communities. To simply say they are stopping non-economic work does not provide
justice to the millions of Americas whose lives are impacted by these dangerous
and discriminatory laws courtesy of ALEC and its corporate backers. It's clear
that major corporations were in bed with an institution that has worked against
basic American values such as the right to vote. Now that these companies are aware of what
they've supported, what will they do about it? If ALEC's corporate supporters
will not hold the institution accountable for the damage it has caused
nationwide, then the ColorOfChanng community will hold them accountable."
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