For many, the American Legislative Exchange Council, a powerful and well funded coalition of corporations and lawmakers, first came to the public attention when a 2010 NPR investigation revealed the role that the organization played in influencing SB 1070, a law that many of its members financially benefited from. In particular, those opposed to SB 1070 were outraged to learn that a representative for the private prison industry leader Corrections Corporation of America ^[2], a member of ALEC, was present at the meeting where Arizona State Sen. Russell Pearce and other ALEC members wrote the model bill that eventually became SB 1070, a law that ended up funneling thousands into the Arizona private prison system.

This was perhaps the first time that it came to the attention of the public that big business is not only lobbying legislators, but it may at times even be literally writing the legislation that gets passed into law. ... Read More ^[1]

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What is the American Legislative Exchange Council? Is it operating in your best interests or that of corporations and politicians. The following article from The Rood gives some answers.