TZBpolitics

Pay to play at the bill mill—the American Legislative Exchange Council—where corporations propose bills to politicians behind closed doors. The time has come to open them. 

By T. Z. Blakemore                               March 22, 2026

They say there are some things that money cannot buy. However, money can buy the integrity of the government. The government is up for sale–being sold to unelected billionaires and multi-billion dollar corporations–and ALEC’s stake is only increasing. 

ALEC, The American Legislative Exchange Council, is a group of corporations and politicians who draft bills: bills made for corporations, by corporations. The process cannot be explained better than when former governor of Wisconsin, Tommy Thompson, in a luncheon speech to ALEC in 2002, said, “I always loved going to these meetings because I always found new ideas. Then I’d take them back to Wisconsin, disguise them a little bit, and declare that ‘It’s mine.” While we fall for the illusion of true democracy in our country, ALEC is pushing another bill through the mill that will not serve the American people— one they picked up at a luncheon or an all expenses paid vacation where our politicians take model bills from their corporate benefactors.  

An attack on one, is an attack on us all. While it is easy to turn the TV off when the news does not affect you—trust that soon enough it will if we as a collective do not resist. In the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in June 2022, one for every three lawmakers was affiliated with ALEC. 500 to be exact. 500 lawmakers pushing to make no exceptions for rape or incest. Whether the perpetrator being charged for rape is up in the air, these lawmakers will ensure that you are charged for seeking out healthcare. 

ALEC is a plague to the government. Anti-abortion activist, Craig DeRoche, held a leadership role at ALEC. He is the private chair of ALEC’s Criminal Justice task force. His policies are heavily influenced by his Christian beliefs. While it is not a crime to stand for what you believe in—it certainly is to violate the first amendment where it states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Is the weight of the word of the constitution diminishing with every shady bill and backdoor deal?

ALEC thrives on operating from behind closed doors. During the 2011-2012 legislative session, 132 bills based on ALEC models were introduced in the states. Approximately, 10% of those bills were sponsored by Democrats, while 90% were sponsored by Republicans. About two thirds of those bills were introduced in state lower chambers, 34% were introduced in upper chambers, and of those legislators who sponsored ALEC model legislation, 57% were explicitly connected to ALEC. 

 If ALEC is as big of a threat to our democracy as claimed, what bills have they produced? The Voter ID Act is a model bill from ALEC that targets low income citizens, students, and minorities who lack a driver’s license, but claim to offer free IDs while simultaneously making them inaccessible. Supporters of the Voter ID Act argue that the purpose of the bill is to ensure election integrity. William O’Brien, New Hampshire House Speaker, was caught on camera exposing the true motivation behind the legislation, claiming young adults, “just vote with their feelings” and “Voting as a Liberal. That’s what kids do.” ALEC is dedicated to silencing voices and votes. 

Voter suppression attempts are nothing new for ALEC. In fact, in 1980, ALEC co-founder Paul Weyrich told 15,000 conservative preachers in Dallas: “Now many of our Christians have what I call the “goo goo” syndrome. Good Government. They want everybody to vote. I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people. They have never been from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.” The motivations behind ALEC’s model bills have always been and will continue to be shady. We cannot stand for our voices to be voted away.

The Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act is a bill that would severely restrict legal immigrants from benefits while requiring them to pay into social security and Medicare for 10 years before they are eligible for access. The Uniform Faithful Presidential Electors Act nullifies the vote of an elector who does not vote in favor of the popular vote, essentially disenfranchising an elector who voted by their conscience. The Safeguard American Votes and Elections Act bans ranked choice voting. The Political Funding Reform Act prohibits public employee union dues from being used for political purposes. These acts were model bills pushed by ALEC—for corporations, by corporations.

The term “corporations” is ambiguous for a true editorial exposé. ALEC keeps its current members confidential for a reason. The Source Watch Organization contains a plethora of current and ex-members over an extended period of time. Once affiliated with ALEC, but chose to cut ties were Amazon, Walmart, Facebook, Microsoft, and Google and more. For decades big corporations have been paying to play in our government. Google’s statement called out ALEC, announcing that,”The consensus within the company was that was some sort of mistake and so we’re trying to not do that in the future…. The company has a very strong view that we should make decisions in politics based on facts — what a shock…. And so we should not be aligned with such people — they’re just, they’re just literally lying.” Many corporations were willing to give up their share of influence over the government to save face, while more model bills are being drafted as you read this.

It is time to put a face to some names. Referring to the ALEC members in government as “conservative politicians” is rather vague. Remember Tommy Thompson? Wisconsin’s former governor who disguised model bills from corporations as his own. His efforts were proven effective because he was an ALEC award winner. The high profile ALEC award winner list includes President Ronald Reagan, whose “Reaganomics” policies had detrimental effects on the economy and sold the American people the lie of trickle-down economics, president George H. W. Bush, and even the previous Prime Minister of the U.K., Margaret Thatcher. What is she doing on this list? The first letter of ALEC stands for American, does it not? This takes pay to play to an entirely new level if being an American is not a requirement to hold influence over our politics. 

Does ALEC hold power under Trump’s Administration? Let’s delve into the details from his past presidency. According to the organization Citizens for Ethics and an analysis by CREW, eight White House officials and six Trump Cabinet members have attended events hosted by the ALEC during his presidency. The officials were Vice President Mike Pence, then-Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Senior Advisor Kellyanne Conway, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. Clearly, ALEC paid to play when they hosted their 45th Annual Gala at Trump’s Washington, D.C. hotel in September 2018.

Sometimes the answers to current issues lie within the events of the past. ALEC endorsed the Stand Your Ground law, and later removed it from their website after the public scrutiny they faced during the Trayvon Martin trial. The Castle Doctrine, stand your ground, permitted murder in the name of self-defense. But the law was almost always abused, biased, and resulted in the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, an African American, who was shot and killed by middle-aged George Zimmerman, to go unpunished because he deemed him “suspicious.” Zimmerman was ultimately found—not guilty. He was protected under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. If Trayvon Martin shot Zimmerman and claimed self-defense, how do you think the jury would have ruled? 

ALEC’s bills do all harm and no good. Bills by ALEC contributed to the mass incarceration that ruined families and corrupted the justice system. ALEC profited off of keeping jails full. The price of bail indicates you are better off rich and guilty than poor and innocent. Another bill proposed by ALEC, three strikes you’re out, advocated being tough on crime, yet they were quick to change their tune when the opportunity to privatize probation presented itself. Private companies made even more profit off of GPS ankle monitors. Prison is a business and no one was interested in reform.

The bill mill is a national threat. This is no longer a matter of Republicans vs. Democrats. Maybe it never was. This is people vs. plutocrats. If you still believe ALEC does not affect you, think again. They want to divide and distract us because united, we are harder to fool. Whatever false sense of privilege you feel protected by because the bills do not target you—disregard it—because the only privilege you have is ignorance. In their eyes, while you are now a legal American citizen—you were an immigrant first–who could have easily been a victim of crimmigation and mass incarceration. While you are white woman—you are a woman first. While you may be a white male—you are an employee first. A pawn in their power scheme. The first to lay off when an ALEC CEO makes cuts, and decreases wages to increase the profit on their billion dollar paycheck. They do not care about us. 

Democracy is in danger and the biggest threats are the ones we cannot see. As Americans—we can no longer allow corrupt politicians or corporations to dictate the laws of our land. Wake up.