Sheila Harsdorf

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Sheila Harsdorf is a Republican member of the Wisconsin State Senate.[1] She serves on the following Senate Standing Committees: Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, and Higher Education; Committee on Finance; and the Committee on State and Federal Relations and Information Technology (Chair). She is also the Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Information Policy and Technology, and a member of the Joint Committee on Finance.[2]

Harsdorf was reelected on November 6, 2012.[3]

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

Sen. Harsdorf is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Sen. Harsdorf co-sponsored 6 bills that reflect ALEC models, according to an analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy. 

About ALEC
ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our ExposedbyCMD.org site.

Harsdorf and ALEC Tobacco Legislation

In May 2011, Harsdorf co-introduced an amendment to the state budget bill that would have changed the way moist snuff and other smokeless tobacco products are taxed.[3] The amendment would have benefitted Big Tobacco company Altria, a member of the the American Legislative Exchange Council's Private Enterprise Board and contributor to Olsen's campaign account, by making smokeless tobacco products less expensive and more appealing to the youth market.

Compare Senator Harsdorf's effort to implement a weight-based tax on smokeless tobacco products to ALEC's model bill, the "Resolution on the Enhancement of Economic Neutrality, Commercial Efficiency, and Fairness in the Taxation of Moist Smokeless Tobacco (MST) Products."

Articles and resources

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External resources

External articles

References

  1. Wisconsin State Legislature. State Senator Sheila Harsdorf. Government Website. Accessed August 1, 2011.
  2. Wisconsin State Legislature. State Senator Sheila Harsdorf. Government Website. Accessed August 1, 2011.
  3. Wisconsin Votes, 2012 Election Results, organizational website, accessed December 3, 2012.
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