[The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) tries to rewrite
the state laws that govern your rights, often benefiting huge
corporations. A review of hundreds of tax filings by CMD reveals some
of the top bankrollers of ALEC.]
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ALEC’S FUNDING REVEALED  
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David Armiak |
July 25, 2023
Center for Media and Democracy
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_ The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) tries to rewrite
the state laws that govern your rights, often benefiting huge
corporations. A review of hundreds of tax filings by CMD reveals some
of the top bankrollers of ALEC. _

, Photo credit: YouTube/ALEC

 

For years, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has
claimed to be “committed to transparency”—yet it refuses to
disclose its donors on its website. 

When asked about this, ALEC [[link removed]]’s CEO
Lisa Nelson told the press
[[link removed]] that
donor information is available in tax filings published on its
website. But a review of those filings shows that although the
organization’s Schedule B does include donation amounts, all
donors’ names are redacted.

So who funds ALEC?

A review of hundreds of tax filings by the Center for Media and
Democracy (CMD) has uncovered 39%—or $16.4 million—of the $41.7
million ALEC received in contributions between 2017 and 2021. Most
2022 IRS filings are not yet publicly available.

This investigation into ALEC’s funding builds on a 2021 CMD report
[[link removed]] that
identified over $15 million—roughly one-third of its revenue from
contributions—raised between 2014 and 2019.

Once again, the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation
[[link removed]] proved
to be the top contributor to ALEC between 2017 and 2021, providing
$3.4 million in grants. The family foundation with over $1.1 billion
in net assets bankrolls
[[link removed]] ALEC
CARE, the organization’s controversial voter management campaign
software, and since 2018
[[link removed]] has
been sponsoring Bradley “forums” at ALEC meetings that feature
other Bradley grant recipients.

In December 2021, Bradley forum speakers at the ALEC States and Nation
Policy Summit promoted the GOP’s manufactured culture war complaint
about the supposed teaching of critical race theory in public schools
and pushed for model legislation to address it, as CMD reported
[[link removed]].

The second largest known donor to ALEC is Charles Koch, who gave just
over $2 million between 2017 and 2021 through his personal foundation
and Stand Together Fellowships
[[link removed]],
formerly known as the Charles Koch Institute.

Koch Industries’ Mike Morgan has held a seat on ALEC’s corporate
Private Enterprise Advisory Council since at least the late 1990s
[[link removed]].

Koch Industries’ recent funding of ALEC is unknown. Documents
CMD reported
[[link removed]] on
in 2014 showed $504,700
[[link removed]] in donations to
the pay-to-play group between 1995 and 1998. The amounts of any
personal checks Charles Koch may have written to ALEC are also
unknown.

Rounding out the top three known contributors to ALEC is Searle
Freedom Trust
[[link removed]],
which contributed $1.7 million between 2017 and 2021. The trust’s
wealth stems from the G.D. Searle pharmaceutical company known for
producing the artificial sweetener aspartame, more commonly marketed
as NutraSweet. 

Kimberly Dennis, the Searle Freedom Trust’s president and CEO, also
serves as chairman of the board of DonorsTrust
[[link removed]], which she
co-founded in 1999 with the late libertarian activist Whitney Ball.

DonorsTrust, the preferred donor conduit of the Koch political
network, topped all known donor advised funds (DAFs) funneling money
to ALEC, contributing $2.2 million between 2017 and 2021. National
Philanthropic Trust ($876,000) and the little-known Dallas Foundation
($500,000) ranked second and third among DAFs supporting ALEC during
that five-year period.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the
industry’s primary trade association, topped all trade group
contributions to ALEC with $504,000 (2017–21) in funding. Like Koch
Industries, PhRMA has held a seat on ALEC’s Private Enterprise
Advisory Council for decades.

The roughly 60%—or $25.4 million—of contributions to ALEC that CMD
has been unable to trace likely came from corporate and/or individual
donations. The Center for Political Accountability has
identified $112,000
[[link removed]] in funding from
Pinnacle West Capital Corp. and Celgene Corporation during this
five-year period.

ALEC’s 2022 IRS filing is not yet public, but according to its 2022
Annual Report
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organization raised $10.1 million, with a 55% increase in new donors
and a 45% increase in funding from individual supporters.

Even though ALEC openly describes itself as a “membership
organization,” its 2021 IRS filing
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that it brought in $74,335 in membership dues, which accounts for less
than 1% of its total revenue of $9.8 million that year. ALEC routinely
inflates its legislative membership numbers and, as CMD reported
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last year, actually has only half of the “nearly one-quarter of the
country’s state legislators” it claims as members.

_David Armiak is research director with the Center for Media and
Democracy. David joined CMD in 2015, has conducted extensive
investigations on dark money, corporate corruption, and right-wing
networks, and is responsible for filing and analyzing hundreds of
public records requests every year. David has a strong research
interest in social movements and political power, and has delivered
many talks on the subject. He has a Bachelor's degree in philosophy
and anthropology from Boston University and a Master's degree in
Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison._

_All articles by David Armiak
[[link removed]]_

_THE CENTER FOR MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY
[[link removed]] (CMD) IS A NATIONALLY
RECOGNIZED WATCHDOG THAT LEADS IN-DEPTH, AWARD-WINNING INVESTIGATIONS
INTO THE CORRUPTION THAT UNDERMINES OUR DEMOCRACY, ENVIRONMENT, AND
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have ignited national conversations on money in politics and the
distortion of U.S. law and democracy — at every level of government
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democracy — and the true motivations for their actions. When
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power follow the law._

* ALEC
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* Money in Politics
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* Dark Money
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* state legislatures
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