How Much Does an ALEC Meeting Cost?

How much does it cost for a legislator to go to a meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)?

From the Common Cause documents that were included in the request by Common Cause to the IRS to revoke ALEC's 501c3 status:

Spring Task Force Summit

1. Spring Task Force Summit Reimbursement Form: ALEC Task Force Members are reimbursed by ALEC up to $350.00 for travel expenses. Receipts must be forwarded to the ALEC Policy Coordinator and approved by the Director of Policy.
2. ALEC Task Force Members’ room & tax fees for up to a two-night stay at the host hotel are covered by ALEC.
3. Registration fees are not covered; however, Task Force Members may submit registration expenses for payment from their state scholarship account upon approval of the State Chair.

IT APPEARS TO BE FREE

Annual Meeting

ALEC Annual Meeting: State Scholarship Reimbursement Form: State scholarship funds are available for reimbursement by approval of your ALEC State Chair. Expenses are reimbursed after the conference, and may cover the cost of travel, room & tax, and registration. Receipts are to be submitted to the State Chair, who will then submit the signed form to the Director of Membership.

IT APPEARS TO BE FREE

ALEC States & Nation Policy Summit::

1. States & Nation Policy Summit Reimbursement Form: ALEC offers two scholarships per state to cover the cost of travel, room & tax, and registration not to exceed $1,000.00 per person for a total of $2,000.00 per state. ALEC scholarship recipients must be named by the ALEC State Chair. Expenses are submitted to the State Chair and reimbursed after the conference. The State Chair submits the signed form to the Director of Membership.

2. State Scholarship Reimbursement Form: Any other fees or payments must come out of the state scholarship account, with the approval of the State Chair. Receipts must be submitted to the State Chair, who submits the signed form to the Director of Membership.

IT APPEARS TO BE FREE

And that is supported by this statement

"It is a concern that ALEC's corporate donors may have gotten undeserved tax credits," said Janice Thompson, executive director of Common Cause Oregon. ALEC corporate board members contributed $2.2 million to Oregon legislative candidates between 2001 and 2010, according to the group.

And this statement

The pharmaceutical drug lobby PhRMA gave $356,075 to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) "scholarship fund" in 2010, but listed the recipient's address at a lobbying firm steps away from the Wisconsin State Capitol, rather than ALEC's Washington, D.C. offices, according to filings with the Internal Revenue Service.

OR THESE EXAMPLES reported by PFAW:

ALEC isn’t shy about collecting its corporate money either – Time Warner was sent an invoice by ALEC directly for the $10,000 it ‘owed’ to the Ohio Scholarship Fund.

OR THIS

When State Rep. Jarrod Martin posted sight-seeing photos from his ALEC trip to San Diego on Facebook, he stated he “paid for his own trip, no tax payer money was expended.” While Martin technically did pay for his own trip, at least up-front, he was promptly reimbursed $1,903.45 from the scholarship fund.

Based on those snips – why do I repeatedly see statements like this reported in reputable sources:

The state has spent $232,000 during the past decade to send legislators, primarily members of the Republican-controlled House of Delegates, to ALEC conferences and meetings.

OR THIS?

Allen had joined ALEC, as she had several groups related to legislatures. It cost only $50, and legislative funds paid up to $1,500 for travel.

OR THIS?

ALEC Money

Martin has spent $22,061 of taxpayer money on travel, accommodations, and per diems for ALEC conferences.  (VPAP)

OR THIS

[Oregon] State ethics and campaign finance records indicate that, in the last two years, seven Republican House members were reimbursed about $15,000 total for travel to ALEC meetings in New Orleans, Scottsdale, Ariz., San Diego and Washington, D.C.

 

OR THIS

Please note that by playing this clip You Tube and Google will place a long-term cookie on your computer. Please see You Tube’s privacy statement on their website and Google’s privacy statement on theirs to learn more. To view the ACLU’s privacy statement, click here.

Double Dipped to the tune of $70,000 in Louisiana?

Collected from ALEC?

Collected from the State for the same expenses?

To give you and example

Here’s a copy of an ALEC reimbursement form for registration fees

Here’s a copy of an ALEC reimbursement form for airfare and hotel

Why is the address blocked out?

Cause the check was sent to their home – you silly goose.

Did they get reimbursed from the state also?

Double Dipping

Triple dipping

Stealing money from taxpayers

Think about it

If you’re ALEC legislator claims the expenses

On an expense report to the state (#1)

And then on his/her campaign reports (#2)

And receives an ALEC scholarship check for the full amount (#3)

Your ALEC legislator would have been reimbursed three times for the same expenses.

WE need to start checking that out.

If you find a problem – report it - post it and use the phrase “ALEC double dipping” or “ALEC triple dipping” somewhere in the entry so people can find it easily when researching.

It is our responsibility as citizens to check this out.

Stealing money from taxpayers

Stealing money from our schools

Stealing money from our government workers

Stealing money from our cities, counties and townships

Stealing money needed for social service programs

Last time I looked there another word for stealing was:  fraud.

How much does it cost for a legislator to go to a meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)?

Maybe we should change that to
How much does a legislator EARN by going to  a meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)?