Corporate Sponsors Quit ALEC Over Controversial Stands; Alliance for a Better UTAH Urges Utah Legislators To Do the Same
Salt Lake City, Utah — To date, seven major corporate sponsors of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and one major Foundation, have indicated they will not renew their memberships or other financial support to the controversial conservative organization. Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Kraft Foods, Intuit, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Mars, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, made the announcements in recent days amid mounting criticism over ALEC’s backing of a controversial, often radical, social agenda which, in recent years, has departed from ALEC’s original conservative business agenda.
ALEC model legislation has been responsible for promoting, through their legislative members, legislation aimed at voter suppression, privatizing public education, irresponsible gun ownership , privatization of public lands, and anti-environment laws, and others that support the interests of a minority of Americans over the interests of the vast American middle class.
Alliance for a Better UTAH urges Utah Legislators to join with Coke, Pepsi, Kraft, Intuit, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Mars, and the Gates Foundation and be among the early leaders terminating their membership in, and support of, ALEC. Better UTAH believes that there are other organizations of state legislators that provide a better forum for the exchange of ideas among state legislators without ALEC’s radical legislative agenda.
ALEC members in Utah’s legislature include:
Senate
- ALEC State Chairman, Sen. Curt Bramble (R-16)
- ALEC State Chairman, Sen. Wayne Niederhauser (R-9)
- Senate President, Michael G. Waddoups (R-6)
- Senate Majority Leader, Scott K. Jenkins (R-20)
- Sen. Ralph Okerlund (R-24)
- Sen. Stephen H. Urquhart (R-29)
- Sen. Mark B. Madsen (R-13)
- Sen. Peter Knudson (R-17)
- Sen. Ralph Okerlund (R-24)
- Sen. Margaret Dayton (R-15)
- Sen. Howard A. Stephenson (R-11)
- Sen. Stuart C. Reid (R-18)
- Sen. J. Stuart Adams (R-22)
House
- Speaker of the House, Rebecca Lockhart (R-64)
- House Majority Leader, Brad L. Dee (R-11)
- Rep. Todd E. Kiser (R-41)
- Rep. Ryan Wilcox (R-7)
- Rep. Gage Froerer (R-8)
- Rep. Paul Ray (R-13)
- Rep. Chris N. Herrod (R-62)
- Rep. Dean Sanpei (R-63)
- Rep. David Clark (R-74)
- Rep. Bradley Daw (R-60)
- Rep. Roger Barrus (R-18)
- Rep. Keith Grover (R-61)
- Rep. Michael T. Morley (R-66)
- Rep. Eric K. Hutchings (R-38)
- Rep. Ken Ivory (R-47)
- Rep. R. Curt Webb (R-5)
- Rep. Julie Fisher (R-17)
Alliance for a Better UTAH has identified several pieces of ALEC model legislation in the Utah State Legislature this year, including but not limited to:
HB 48 Transfer of Public Lands
HB 49 Firearms Revisions
HB 91 Utah Enabling Act
HB 187 Agricultural Operation Interference (Rep. J. Mathis)
HB 370 Education on Free Enterprise System (Rep. Keith Grover)
SB 21 Environmental Quality Boards Revisions
SB 151 Student Opportunity Scholarship (Sen. Howard Stephenson)
“The more that comes to light about ALEC and its detrimental effect on Utah’s public policy, the more it becomes clear that Utah’s independent thinking legislators should discontinue their involvement in the organization,” said Maryann Martindale, Executive Director of Alliance for a Better UTAH. “The fact that Coke, Pepsi, Kraft, Intuit and Gates have left ALEC or discontinued their support of the organization speaks volumes to how toxic the group’s radical social agenda has become. It’s time for Utah’s ALEC members to follow suit by confirming their support of the interests of a majority of Utahns and rejecting the ALEC model of pushing legislation that rewards a select few.”
Alliance for a Better UTAH | 801.427.3397 | www.betterutah.org
