Corporations Represented on ALEC’s Private Enterprise Board Are Big Spenders in Washington

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is an ideologically conservative consortium of state legislators and business interests known to draft model legislation for state lawmakers across the country.

“Legislators welcome their private sector counterparts to the table as equals, working in unison to solve the challenges facing our nation,” ALEC’s websites states.

A whistleblower connected to ALEC recently gave the Center for Media and Democracy information tying ALEC to hundreds of models for draft legislation — draft legislation that the organization boasts on its website that is not only introduced by state lawmakers but also regularly passed into law.

Twenty-three corporations — including AT&T, Exxon Mobil, Kraft, Coca-Cola and Koch Industries — compose the consortium’s “private enterprise board.”

On the national level, the companies involved in ALEC’s private enterprise board have also been mustering a juggernaut of lobbyists to target congressional initiatives, as well as federal departments like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The breadth of ALEC’s influence has also extended to campaign contributions for a number of candidates, including Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio), who received $368,200 from the people and political action committees associated with the companies on ALEC’s private enterprise board during the 2010 election cycle, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics. That’s more than any other federal politician.

Of the 23 companies on the private enterprise board, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has spent the largest amount on lobbying the government.

Last year, the drug trade group spent more than $22.74 million on lobbying and hired 156 lobbyists — about 59 percent more lobbyists than any other ALEC company. Of those, the Center for Responsive Politics has found that 120 were once federal employees — and four were former members of Congress.

Since 2009, PhRMA has spent $57.18 million on lobbying.

The next highest lobbying spender in recent years, with $46.7 million spent since 2009, was Exxon Mobil.

Here is a table showing the lobbying expenditures of each of these 23 companies since 2009. Note: figures for 2011 are through the end of June, the most recently available data:

Much of these companies’ lobbying efforts have targeted the health care reform law signed by President Barack Obama last year, as well as environmental measures, such as bills that would block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases.

One of the top federal agencies that the companies on the ALEC private enterprise board have been focusing their lobbying efforts on is the EPA.

ALEC claims on its website that the EPA is trying to “regulate everything” because “everything runs on fossil fuels.”

It further claims that the EPA has begun “developing and finalizing a slew of overreaching and inefficient air and water rules over the next several years that will dramatically increase energy costs, cause enormous negative impacts to jobs and the economy, irreparably damage the competitiveness of American business and trample on state sovereignty in the process.”

According to the Center’s research, 10 of ALEC’s private enterprise board members lobbied the EPA during 2009, and during the first six months of 2011, eight of these companies have.

Furthermore, the people and PACs affiliated with the 23 corporations on ALEC’s private enterprise board have contributed millions to federal political candidates and committees.

During the 2010 election cycle, the people and PACs associated with these companies gave $25.98 million to federal political candidates and committees, according to the Center’s research, with more than two-thirds of that sum aiding Republicans.

According to the Center’s research, 112 candidates have received more than $50,000 from these interests and 27 have collected more than $100,000.

After Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has collected the most, with $328,100 from people and PACs associated with 17 companies on the ALEC private enterprise board. And Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) ranked third, gathering $257,000 from 19 of the companies.

Notably, before she was defeated last November, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) received $221,500 from the people and PACs associated with 18 of the companies on the ALEC private enterprise board..

By contrast, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has taken $54,600 from people and PACs associated with six of the companies on the ALEC private enterprise board. That ranks her as the No. 96 top beneficiary.

Here is a table showing the top 20 political candidates to receive donations from the 23 companies during the 2010 election cycle.

All the while, the companies on the ALEC private enterprise board have also favored Republican national party committees more than their Democratic counterparts.

According to research by the Center for Responsive Politics, the people and PACs associated with these 23 companies have donated the following sums:

• $916,100 to the National Republican Congressional Committee
• $859,700 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee  
• $445,600 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
• $324,900 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
• $218,300 to the Republican National Committee
• $174,200 to the Democratic National Committee

Center for Responsive Politics researchers Dan Auble and Sarah Bryner contributed to this report.