Progress Missouri Joins Iowa, Texas in getting legislators out from under the ALEC Thumb

Corp-o-rat Money

It is with great pleasure as someone who wants to advocate here for integrity and transparency in government, and more than that, to have our government genuinely be government of the people, by the people and FOR THE PEOPLE, not to disproporionately line the pockets of the executives of big corporations at the expense of public interest and ordinary citizens. 
We have no control, no accountability, no transparency when our legislation is written by others, not the people we elect.  That legislation, over and over, is written in secret, miles away from our state legislature, often entirely outside our state borders.

If money is, as the SCOTUS indicates, a form of free speech, then overwhelming amounts of corporate money are drowning out our individual voices in a sea of secretive cash and other rewards.
The latest citizen activist group, a less ideologically extreme and broader based organization than the fading Tea Party, are the state Progress groups.  The most recent to call for the exodus of legislators from ALEC is Progress Missouri, another group that does not hesitate to name names. ( A similar group is active in our own state, the Alliance for a Better Minnesota.)
When I spoke with one of the staff at Progress Missouri, I was told that they have already FOIA'd their legislators, and have a report of that information on their web site.
From their website:

No More ALEC

Until now, it has been difficult to trace the origins of controversial bills popping up in legislatures across the country with curiously similar language. But with the Center for Media and Democracy’s ALEC Exposed website, Missourians can see exactly how secret corporate working groups are writing our laws. For more see http://www.progressmissouri.org/ALECinMO

Missouri legislators with direct ties to ALEC include: Tim Jones, R-Eureka; Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield; Luann Ridgeway R-Clay County; Jason Smith, R-Salem; Andrew Koenig, R-Winchester; Schoeller Shane, R-Willard; Sue Allen, R- Town & Country; Walt Bivins, R-St. Louis; Mike Colona, D-St. Louis; Stanley Cox R-Sedalia; Charlie Denison R-Springfield; Tony Dugger, R-Hartville; Doug Ervin, R- Kearney; Doug Funderburk, R-St. Peter's; Jack Goodman, R-Mt. Vernon; Caleb Jones, R-California; Bart Korman, R- High Hill; Michele Kratky, D-St. Louis; Jim Lembke, R-Lemay; Darrell Pollock, R-Lebanon; Ron Richard, R-Joplin; Rodney Schad, R-Versailles.
and
the following page from their site reflects some of the long and short term activities. 
I would strongly remind our readers of the fundamental definition of corruption, developed by the World Bank:
"abuse of public office for private gain".
I believe having corporations directly draft the legislation which regulates them and which profits them, and having it passed by their little puppet legislators whom they provide a variety of payoffs meets that definition of corruption.  These legislators are, effectively it appears, working for corporations, including out of state corporations in some cases, not for their constituents!
From ALEC's Secret Board Rooms to the Missouri Capitol

Earlier this month, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) made available over 800 model bills and resolutions secretly voted on by corporate and legislative members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). According to The Nation, which recently published an in depth review of the documents:

ALEC’s model legislation reflects long-term goals…making it harder to hold the economically and politically powerful to account. Corporate donors retain veto power over the language, which is developed by the secretive task forces. The task forces cover issues from education to health policy. ALEC’s priorities for the 2011 session included bills to privatize education, break unions, deregulate major industries, pass voter ID laws and more.

Until recently, it has been difficult to trace the origins of controversial bills popping up in legislatures across the country with curiously similar language. But with the Center for Media and Democracy’s ALEC Exposed website, Missourians can see exactly how secret corporate working groups are writing our laws.

As you will see below, our review of the previously secret documents at ALECExposed.com has found that conservative legislators in Missouri were more than happy to turn over their legislating powers to these unaccountable corporate interests. Sadly, we believe that we’ve only scratched the surface.

• RIGHT TO WORK FOR LESS. Sen. Luann Ridgeway and Sen. Jason Crowell’s attacks on Missouri working families are essentially identical to ALEC’s model legislation.
  
• PROPOSITION C. ALEC openly brags that Missouri “passed the ALEC model as a statute” in the form of the poorly-named ‘Health Care Freedom Act.’ According to ALEC, Proposition C was “modeled after the American Legislative Exchange Council's (ALEC) Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act…introduced or announced in 42 states.”
  
• MEGA SALES TAX. Rep. Eric Burlison told the House that his Mega Sales Tax proposal cited a “report by the American Legislative Exchange Council that noted a consumption-based sales tax system fuels economic growth.” (Springfield News-Leader, 04/17/09)
  
• “PARENT TRIGGER ACT.” According to the Associated Press, legislation pushed by Reps. Tim Jones and Scott Dieckhaus “would enable parents, if a majority agreed, to convert a public school to a charter or get vouchers to send their children elsewhere if they're unhappy with their current school… Dave Wright, president of the Missouri School Boards' Association, called the bill's three options ‘simple and unproven.”
  
• COX’ “PRIVATE ATTORNEY RETENTION ACT.” Rep. Stanley Cox (R-Sedalia) has publicly acknowledge that ‘his’ legislation was modeled on an ALEC proposal, spurred by concern about fees paid to private lawyers as part of the national settlement with tobacco companies. (Missouri Lawyers Media, 03/20/11)
  
• RESOLUTION ENDORSING ELECTORAL COLLEGE.
  
• KOENIG LEGISLATION ENDING DEFINED BENEFIT PLANS FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYEES. In 2010, Rep. Andrew Koenig admitted that the thinking behind his HB2113 bill came from ALEC, which wants public agencies to “end defined benefit plans and turn to 401(k)-type defined contribution plans.” (News-Leader 2/18/2010) Koenig’s bill was co-sponsored by Reps. McNary, Gatschenberger, Burlison, Emery, Schlottach, Parkinson, Franz, Stream, Scharnhorst, Funderburk, McGhee, Allen, Zerr and Bivins.