Letter to the editor submitted by Phyllis Behlen

To the editor,

Remember ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council)?

ALEC made national news in 2012 when a whistleblower disclosed the names of corporate sponsors of this bill mill.

Representatives of corporate interests promote “model” legislation to help corporations’ bottom lines. (Examples: privatization of education and health care, rollback of environmental regulations, limits to consumer and worker protections, repeal of the ACA).

In addition to legislation helping businesses, ALEC also promotes voter repression laws, Stand Your Ground, and anti-immigration legislation.

Apparently these measures, when exposed, became an embarrassment to some major consumer product companies. MacDonald’s, Pepsi, Coca Cola, Kraft Foods, Intuit and others stated at the time they would not renew their membership in ALEC.

ALEC is a partnership; it needs both corporations (funders and legislation writers) and legislators (enactors).

Fred Camillo, incumbent and candidate for reelection to the State Assembly, did not renew his membership after disclosure of state legislators membership. However in a recent (October 16, 2018) letter to the editor, Fred says “In fact, calls to these organizations (referring to ALEC and NCSL) helped me craft many of my legislative bills that gained passage and were signed into law…..”.

When you vote on November 6th, vote for a candidate who will have your back, will vote for and propose legislation in support of your values, not the wishes of corporations. That candidate is Laura Kostin.

Note: The deadline for letters in support of candidates in the November 6, 2018 election is Monday, October 29, 2018.

Not all letters will be published. Instead we will select a sampling of letters.