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While ALEC may be, technically speaking, "non-partisan," its strongly pro-corporate agenda has drawn millions of dollars in funding each year from corporate titans and produced considerable controversy.

(www.alec.org)

Why would a Pennsylvania legislator belong to a controversial private group that would even think of asking an elected official to make the following pledge?

“I am morally responsible for the health and well-being of this organization…. I will act with care and loyalty and put the interests of the organization first.”

That’s a draft pledge the American Legislative Exchange Council considered asking its state co-chairs, including Pennsylvania’s Sen. Richard Alloway and Rep. Brian Ellis, to take.

The council, known by its acronym ALEC (al-LECK), is multi-million dollar organization that pushes hotly-disputed laws at the state level.

Many of the laws are intended to make life easier for corporations, which is why corporate titans like the Koch Brothers lavish millions of dollars on the group. But in recent times, ALEC has branched into other controversial causes, like promoting “stand your ground” laws and changes to make voting more difficult.

Backlash

Delving into those controversies helped cause a backlash among ALEC’s corporate patrons. Wal-Mart, Coca Cola, and Visa are among nearly 40 that have pulled out. Getting sucked into fights over personal self-defense laws had nothing to do with protecting their profits, and their ALEC membership outraged many of their customers on the other side of the controversy.

Legislators are deserting ALEC, too. Some 400 nationwide have quit, according to a major investigation by the Guardian, a British-American news organization. Either the lawmakers misunderstood what ALEC was about or didn’t want the controversy it provokes.

The put-ALEC-first pledge for elected officials who are state-level leaders was not formally adopted. But the mere consideration of it reveals a disturbing mentality. It's the kind of blind loyalty oath you might expect from a cult.

Mistaken perceptions

ALEC benefits from the misperception that it is a forum for discussing “good government” ideas and exchanging notes on “best practices” for state government.

That’s how Central Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Jake Corman talked about it when asked by PennLive Friday. He said he was never a member of ALEC – not because of controversy, but because he simply doesn’t have the time. He said he was unaware of controversies surrounding the group.

(Neither Rep. Ellis nor Sen. Alloway replied to requests for comment left with their office staff Friday morning. As state co-chairs, they likely would be expected to attend ALEC’s policy summit in Washington D.C., held Wednesday through Friday.)

If ALEC ever was a “good government/best practices” organization, it isn’t any more.

Compare its mission statement with that of a group that genuinely supports non-partisan improvements in governance, the National Conference of State Legislatures:

“NCSL is committed to the success of state legislators and staff. Founded in 1975, we are a respected bipartisan organization providing states support, ideas, connections and a strong voice on Capitol Hill.”

ALEC's website announces its avowedly political mission in five prominently displayed words on every page: "Limited Government. Free Markets. Federalism."

Conflicting loyalties?

No Pennsylvania elected official can belong to any other private organization that says its interests have to come first. Doing so would blatantly conflict with that official’s oath of office. An official’s duty is first to the constitutions of the country and the commonwealth, and then to the constituents who elect him or her.

When John F. Kennedy ran for president in 1960, he had to make clear he would put his duty to the nation ahead of any duty to his church. Many voters wondered where his loyalties would lie, with the American people or with the Pope.

Pennsylvanians might want to ask a similar question of legislators who belong to a group like ALEC.