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The Center for Media and Democracy and The Nation publish "ALEC Exposed," revealing approximately 800 model bills developed by the American Legislative Exchange Council showing how corporations directly write state legislation on labor, environment, privatization, voting, criminal justice, and education. The leaked documents expose ALEC's "pay-to-play" operation where corporate members including Koch Industries, ExxonMobil, Walmart, tobacco companies, pharmaceutical firms, and private prison corporations pay fees to draft model legislation that state legislators then introduce as their own bills.
The leak reveals extensive anti-labor model legislation including the Right to Work Act (promoted since 1979/1995), Paycheck Protection Act restricting union political activity (1998), Living Wage Mandate Preemption Act blocking local minimum wage laws (2002), and Government Union Reform Act destroying public sector bargaining (2016). Documents show identical ALEC language appearing in bills across multiple states simultaneously, demonstrating coordinated corporate campaigns disguised as independent state legislative initiatives.
ALEC Exposed triggers corporate member exodus as major companies including Coca-Cola, Kraft, McDonald's, Wendy's, and Mars drop ALEC membership following public pressure campaigns highlighting the organization's role in voter suppression, Stand Your Ground gun laws, climate denial, and union destruction. However, ALEC adapts by becoming more secretive, restricting model bill access, and relying more heavily on opaque funding through Donors Trust and DonorsTrust. The leak provides documentary proof of systematic corporate state capture, revealing that right-to-work laws, minimum wage preemption, and anti-union legislation spreading across states are not organic legislative responses to constituent needs but coordinated corporate campaigns using ALEC as a legal laundering mechanism to transform corporate wish lists into state law.