But so what, asks Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, when I call him about my discovery. Fitzgerald says he has been a proud member of ALEC since he first became a legislator in 1994, and is currently the Wisconsin State Chairman. State lawmakers have always turned to such national organizations for help brainstorming ideas and crafting legislation, Fitzgerald says. "These groups are about exchanging ideas between different state legislators from around the country to be sure we're not isolating ourselves in Wisconsin," he tells me.

ALEC claims 2,500 legislative members, a third of all state lawmakers in the country. "It's very well run, probably a little bit conservative, but many Democrats are members, too," Fitzgerald says. "It's a great organization."

What's so great about it? "First and foremost, because a lot of the committees crank out what I would consider boilerplate legislation, stuff that's sweeping the nation," he says. "Obviously legislators do this all the time, pirate bills from one state that they think is a good idea into another state."