ALEC Action
ALEC Action — legally registered as the “Jeffersonian Project” — is the 501(c)(4) advocacy arm of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). According to its website, ALEC Action uses “state capitol issue briefings, advocacy alerts, public outreach, coalition development and legislative tracking” to advance “real solutions to challenges facing families, businesses and state governments.”[1]
The organization was formally founded in 2013 in response to complaints from Common Cause, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), and other organizations which claimed that ALEC was violating its 501(c)(3) charitable status by engaging in excessive lobbying.[2] The two organizations have complete operational overlap, and “the Organization’s operations are managed by its parent company, the American Legislative Exchange Council,” according to tax filings.[3] ALEC Action was legally incorporated in late 2012.[4]
ALEC Action develops a number of “toolkits” on different policy issues, including substance abuse sentencing reform, campus free speech, donor privacy, and tort reform.[5] ALEC Action also develops tailored toolkits to address particular legislative initiatives, particularly those conceived by Democrats, including ones on the pro-union “PRO Act” and the House Democrats’ failed omnibus election reform bill “For the People Act.”[6] The organization regularly advocates for reducing government regulation and has lobbied in favor of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.[7] ALEC Action also spearheads and signs-on to right-wing coalition letters, including those that oppose ESG investing rules and promote welfare work requirements.
Contents
Controversial Founding
ALEC Action, under its name the Jeffersonian Project, was born in response to a potential IRS investigation. In 2013, The Guardian reported that, according to leaked internal documents, ALEC was concerned that it might be audited since its lobbying activities may not comply with its IRS tax-exempt status.[8] This came after years of pressure levied by organizations such as Common Cause, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), and others who argued that ALEC was violating its 501(c)(3) charitable status by engaging in excessive lobbying.[9]
In the leaked 2013 memo to ALEC leadership, the organization’s legal counsel warned that “it is possible that at some point the Internal Revenue Service will audit ALEC. Though we do not believe that any activity carried on by ALEC is lobbying, the IRS could disagree.”
“Any activity that could be done by ALEC may be done by Jeffersonian Project if legal counsel advises it would provide greater legal protection or lessen ethics concerns,” a 2013 annual board meeting document stated. “Due to ever-changing state ethics rules a 501(c)(4) provides better legal protection for the parent ALEC organization.” The new organization “removes questions of ethical violations made by our critics and state ethics boards and provides further legal protection.”
News and Controversies
Opposition to Donor Disclosure
ALEC Action urged Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to veto a donor disclosure bill (SB1005) in May 2022, arguing that the bill “improperly blurs the lines between election transparency and non-political, non-profit activity.”[10]
Work on Voter Suppression
ALEC Action’s president, Michael Bowman, was listed as a key contact for an ALEC “Academy” event on voter suppression strategies, the Center for Media and Democracy has reported.[11] Bowman was also named by ALEC’s president Lisa Nelson as co-leading a secret working group focused on redistricting and election law, alongside conservative operative Cleta Mitchell. And at the ALEC meeting in December 2021, Bowman “took the stage with insurrectionist attorney Cleta Mitchell to introduce the elections session.”[12]
Campaign Data Scheme
ALEC Action’s biggest — and often only — independent contractor expenditure is Voter Gravity Inc, which ALEC Action pays for access to a “database.” From 2018–2021, ALEC Action has spent $740,000 on the service.
This software has been linked to ALEC’s highly-criticized “CARE” campaign software scheme. As CMD’s Arn Pearson noted in a 2022 letter to the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, “ALEC’s CARE software is merely repackaged VoterGravity campaign software linked to the RNC, for which ALEC’s 501(c)(4) affiliate, ALEC Action, pays VoterGravity $250,000 per year.”[13]
Funding
In addition to providing legal cover for on-going lobbying activity, another reason for founding ALEC Action was the possibility of generating additional revenue, according to internal ALEC memos. “ALEC has been approached by donors who are willing to make sizable donations,” a leaked memo from ALEC’s legal counsel states, “but insist that the donations go to a section 501(c)(4) organization. Jeffersonian Project would provide a vehicle to accept such contributions.”[14]
However, according to its tax filings, ALEC Action receives most of its annual funding from its parent organization, ALEC.
Additionally, ALEC Action has received the following grant funds:
- Americans for Prosperity: $75,000 (2020)[15]
- NetChoice: $25,000 (2021)[16]
- Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA): $20,000[17]
- National Federation of Independent Business: $15,000[18]
Core Financials
2021[19]
- Total Revenue: $114,779
- Total Expenses: $291,695
- Net Assets: ($244,930)
2020[20]
- Total Revenue: $400,000
- Total Expenses: $146,385
- Net Assets: ($68,004)
2019[21]
- Total Revenue: $46,132
- Total Expenses: $184,118
- Net Assets: ($214,398)
2018[22]
- Total Revenue: $215,000
- Total Expenses: $246,688
- Net Assets: ($76,403)
2017[23]
- Total Revenue: $150,000
- Total Expenses: $212,298
- Net Assets: ($44,715)
Personnel
Staff
As of June 2023:
- Michael D. Bowman, President
- Lisa Nelson, CEO
- Lisa Bowen, CFO
Michael D. Bowman is the president. According to previous 990s, Bowman used to be the VP. Bowman is attributed with being gifted at “creating left-right coalitions that protect, empower those who have been victimized, trapped or ruined by government laws, programs or institutions.”[1]
Board of Directors
According to an internal memo stipulating its bylaws, the Jeffersonian Project requires that its board of directors be appointed (or removed) by ALEC.[14] Until 2021, the ALEC Action board of directors had never held a board meeting.[19]
As of 2021, there are three Board Members:
- Linda Upmeyer, former Iowa State Representative (R-54) — a board member since 2013
- Phil King, Texas State Senator (R-10)
- Leah Vukmir, former Wisconsin State Senator (R-5)
The founding Board Members are:[4]
- Dave Frizzell
- Linda Upmeyer
- John Piscopo
Contact Information
ALEC Action
2900 Crystal Drive, Suite 600
Arlington, VA 22202
571-482-5050
Website: https://www.alecaction.org/
Twitter: @ALEC_Action
Resources and Articles
IRS Form 990 Filings
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
Related Articles
- David Armiak, At Least 100 ALEC Lawmakers Signed Letter Opposing Worker Protections in PRO Act, ExposedbyCMD, July 29, 2021.
- Lisa Graves, ALEC’s 2016 Agenda Moving in the States: A Snapshot, ExposedbyCMD, May 5, 2016.
- Brendan Fischer, ALEC Support Drops 19 Percent in 2013 PRWatch, November 14, 2014.
- Jessica Mason, ALEC’s Jeffersonian Project Pushes to Amend Constitution, PRWatch, July 31, 2014.
- Nick Surgey, Do ALEC Denials of Bill Tracking Signal an IRS Examination?, ExposedbyCMD, January 27, 2014.
- Brendan Fischer, New Guardian Docs Show ALEC Misled Press, Public, PRWatch, December 4, 2013.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 ALEC Action, About ALEC Action, Accessed June 12, 2023.
- ↑ PRWatch, Groups Add to Evidence in “Whistleblower” Tax Fraud Claim Against ALEC, PRWatch, May 12, 2015.
- ↑ ALEC Action, ALEC Action 2021 990, November 10, 2022, p. 21.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jeffersonian Project, District of Columbia Certificate of Incorporation, District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, December 21, 2012.
- ↑ ALEC Action, Toolkits, Organizational Website, Accessed June 12, 2023.
- ↑ David Armiak, At Least 100 ALEC Lawmakers Signed Letter Opposing Worker Protections in PRO Act, ExposedbyCMD, July 29, 2021.
- ↑ Jessica Mason, ALEC's Jeffersonian Project Pushes to Amend Constitution, PRWatch, July 31, 2014.
- ↑ Ed Pilkington and Suzanne Goldenburg, ALEC Facing Funding Crisis From Donor Exodus In Wake of Trayvon Martin Row, The Guardian, December 3, 2013.
- ↑ PRWatch, Groups Add to Evidence in “Whistleblower” Tax Fraud Claim Against ALEC, PRWatch, May 12, 2015.
- ↑ Sam Stockard, Governor to Sign Ethics Reform Bill Into Law Despite Call for Veto, Tennessee Lookout, May 24, 2022.
- ↑ David Armiak, ALEC “Academy” Featured a Who’s Who of Voter Suppression Leaders, ExposedbyCMD, November 16, 2021.
- ↑ David Armiak and Arn Pearson, Fair Elections and U.S. Constitution Come Under Attack at ALEC Meeting, ExposedbyCMD, December 1, 2021.
- ↑ Arn Pearson, Letter to Maine Ethics Commission, January 25, 2022.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 ALEC, ALEC 40th Board Meeting Documents, Accessed June 12, 2023.
- ↑ Americans for Prosperity, 2020 IRS 990 Filing, November 15, 2021.
- ↑ NetChoice, 2021 IRS 990 Filing, October 3, 2022.
- ↑ Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, 2019 IRS 990 Filing, November 13, 2020.
- ↑ National Federation of Independent Business, 2017 IRS 990 Filing, May 9, 2018.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 ALEC Action, 2021 IRS 990 Filing, November 10, 2022.
- ↑ ALEC Action, 2020 IRS 990 Filing, November 8, 2021.
- ↑ ALEC Action, 2019 IRS 990 Filing, October 20, 2020.
- ↑ ALEC Action, 2018 IRS 990 Filing, November 7, 2019.
- ↑ ALEC Action, 2017 IRS 990 Filing, November 1, 2018.
