Of the 26 members of the current Minnesota state legislature known to be members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), only 15 will return next year to litter the hopper with legislation from the corporate bill factory.
In 2011, Common Cause MN and the Minnesota Independent identified 24 Minnesota legislators as ALEC members; Bluestem later added Representative Denny McNamara and Senator Amy Koch to that list. (Representative Dean Urdahl was included in the CC/MI list although he is not a member; he carries ALEC bills)
In addition to losing members in Tuesday's election in Minnesota, the group also saw a favorite policy objective--voter restriction--fail when citizens decisively rejected Amendment #2. NBC News' Open Channel reported in Flurry of Voter ID laws tied to conservative group ALEC:
A strict photo ID law, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, requires voters to show photo ID or cast a provisional ballot, which is not counted unless the voter returns with an ID to the elections office within a few days. Less-strict laws allow voters without ID to sign an affidavit or have a poll worker vouch for their identity — no provisional ballot necessary.
The flurry of bills introduced the last two years followed the 2010 midterm election when Republicans took control of state legislatures in Alabama, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina and Wisconsin. The same shift occurred in the 2004 election in Indiana and Georgia before those states became the first to pass strict voter ID laws.
ALEC members drafted a voter ID bill in 2009, a year when the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization had $5.3 million in undisclosed corporate and nonprofit contributions, according to Internal Revenue Service documents.
Representative Mary Kiffmeyer--former Minnesota Secretary of State and a newly-elected state senator--introduced the house version of the bill. She serves as state legislative co-chair of ALEC.
Let's hope that Representative Phyllis Kahn revives her bill from last session that would require legislative meetings:
to be open to the public; model legislation lobbyists and principals, and scholarship fund principals and public officials requirements added; public campaign fund established; political contribution refund amount increased, and money appropriated.
Senator Scott Dibble offered similar language in the senate.
Who's in? Who's out? And who moved up? Check out the chart below, adapted from the Minnesota Independent.
Name | Status |
ALEC Task Force |
Rep. Carol McFarlane |
Retired after re-districting
|
Education |
Sen. Chris Gerlach |
Retired |
Commerce, Insurance, and Economic Development Task Force |
Rep. Michael Beard |
Re-elected |
Commerce, Insurance, and Economic Development Task Force |
Sen. Gen Olson |
Retired |
Education |
Rep. Pat Garofalo |
Re-elected |
Education |
Rep. Sondra Erickson |
Re-elected |
Education |
Sen. Gretchen Hoffman |
Retired after redistricting |
HHS |
Rep. Paul Anderson |
Re-elected |
HHS |
Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer |
Elected to senate |
International Relations Task Force |
Rep. Matt Dean |
Re-elected |
International Relations Task Force |
Sen. Roger Chamberlain |
Re-elected |
Public Safety and Elections Task Force |
Rep. Ron Shimanski |
Retired after redistricting |
Public Safety and Elections Task Force task force disbanded |
Sen. Ted Daley |
Defeated |
Public Safety and Elections Task Force task force disbanded |
Rep. Linda Runbeck |
Re-elected |
Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force |
Rep. Pam Myhra |
Re-elected |
Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force |
Rep. Bruce Anderson |
Elected to senate |
Telecommunications and IT Task Force |
Rep. Connie Doepke |
Defeated in senate primary |
Telecommunications and IT Task Force |
Sen. Mike Parry |
Retired |
Telecommunications and IT Task Force |
Rep. Steve Drazkowski |
Re-elected |
Civil Justice |
Rep. Joyce Peppin |
Re-elected |
|
Rep. Mike Benson |
Re-elected |
|
Sen. Amy Koch | Retired |
Natural Resources |
Rep. Denny McNamara |
Re-elected |
Natural Resources |
House Speaker Kurt Zellers |
Re-elected; won't seek minority leader title |
|
Sen. John Howe | Defeated |
|
Rep. King Banaian |
Defeated |
Photo: Minnesota state senator-elect Mary Kiffmeyer lost her war of voters Tuesday night, but we doubt we we've seen the last of her.
Gee, so we won't be seeing Kvetchin' Gretchen's cheery face here anymore? Perhaps she and Flouncett O'Parry can be emo together.
Also noted the departure of King Blogger from the elected-representative scene. Hey, now he has more time to hang out with his NARN buddies, right?
Posted by: Phoenix Woman | Nov 08, 2012 at 10:00 AM
It would be a good idea to bird-dog the bills inteoduced by the 13 who were re-elected. Last session the legislature sent out periodic email with links to lists of new bills introduced. It was easy to cast them into database format.
Posted by: John Ferman | Nov 24, 2012 at 12:10 PM