April 22, 2012

It’s a bad month for corporate front group the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The organization has lost at least twelve corporate and foundation sponsors, as the public learns more and more about its corporate agenda.

Now, Rep. Greg Cromer (R), ALEC’s State Chairman in Louisiana, has decided to resign from the group. I talked to his spokesman James Hartman about Cromer’s decision to leave. This is what he told me:

There were meetings that occurred in the state, in the capitol, related to public policy, Representative Cromer as state chairman of ALEC thought that he should’ve been at least aware of if not present at those meetings…Not only was he not invited, he was not aware they occurred until well after the fact.

Hartman declined to discuss these meetings in further detail, but it is shocking enough that ALEC — an organization that has in recent days tried to claim that it is transparent — would be having public policy meetings without even inviting the legislator who serves as the group’s chairman in the state.

We applaud Cromer for ending his relationship with ALEC. We hope that many more legislators, Republicans, Democrats, and independents will decide to stand by their constituents and not secretive front groups.