weinberg

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg during a June 2014 hearing of the state legislative committee investigating the George Washington Bridge scandal. (John O'Boyle | The Star-Ledger)

WASHINGTON — State Sen. Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg will join other Democratic lawmakers today at the White House as part of their effort to develop a progressive alternative to the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council.

Weinberg (D-Bergen) and lawmakers from Connecticut, Wisconsin, Texas, and several other states will meet with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and several aides to President Obama.

"It was an invitation to become involved in the growth of an organization that was going to be reaching out to progressive state legislators," Weinberg said.

The state legislators are part of the State Innovative Exchange, or SiX, which is trying to help progressive lawmakers the way ALEC helps conservative ones. The new organization held its inaugural conference in December in Washington and will discuss ideas to help the middle class at the White House today.

"Progressive legislators felt they were alone," said Nick Rathod, the executive director of SiX and formerly Obama's liaison to state governments. "They were on an island. They weren't connected to each other.''

Republicans now control 30 state legislatures compared to 11 for Democrats, up from 26 in 2013 when Democrats had majorities in 19, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In eight states, each party controls one chamber, up from four in 2013. Nebraska's unicameral legislature is officially non-partisan.

Even as voters gave the GOP control of more state chambers, they in referendums approved Democratic-backed efforts to raise the minimum wage and rejected Republican-supported measures to make it harder to get an abortion.

"We think people care about these issues," Rathod said, "We just haven't been able to connect to them."

With support from companies such as Exxon Mobil and Pfizer, ALEC produces a library of bills, many of which have been enacted into law by Republican-controlled legislatures.

One of those bills, Stand Your Ground, which allows individuals who feel threatened to use force rather than back away, has been blamed for the shooting death of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012. Subsequently, several companies, including Johnson & Johnson, ended their membership.

The new group will come up with progressive ideas for lawmakers to take back to their home states, and the members will be in touch with each other to discuss proposals that work, how to build coalitions to enact them and how to overcome opposition.

It's an acknowledgement that Democrats have ignored state governments at their peril; with Congress deadlocked, the action is in places like Trenton. GOP control of state legislatures also allowed the party to draw the congressional district lines, helping expand its House majority.

"We've been giving away a lot due to our negligence," Rathod said.

While New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is a Republican, both houses of the state legislature are controlled by Democrats.

"We've been able to get what's been considered progressive issues going forth," Weinberg, citing the state constitutional amendment increasing the minimum wage, and legislation to allow same-sex marriage, which Christie vetoed. Later, the state Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision recognizing same-sex marriages.

Sweeney holds press conference regarding minimum wage increase 5 Gallery: Sweeney holds press conference regarding minimum wage increase

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Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.