A few weeks ago I wrote about the <a href=\"/article-18164-how-corporations-are-controlling-wisconsin-legislators.html\" target=\"_blank\">ethics complaint</a> that Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) filed against the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the pro-corporate public policy “educational group” that\'s underwritten some of the worst laws in the country, including Florida\'s and Wisconsin\'s versions of “stand your ground.” <a href=\"http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/04/11429/wendys-6th-firm-say-it-no-longer-member-alec\" target=\"_blank\">Six major corporate members</a> have fled the organization, finally cutting ties with a group that has lost all sense of good citizenship and common sense.<br /><br />CMD had filed its ethics complaint over ALEC\'s “scholarships” to its lavish events, believing that the corporate-sponsored perks violate Wisconsin\'s tight lobbying laws. By law, a legislator cannot accept anything of value from an organization with a lobbyist or a lobbyist. <br /><br />After doing a ton of investigation, CMD found that ALEC\'s “scholarships” are solicited from coporations and corporate representatives by ALEC\'s state chair (a state legislator, currently state Rep. Robin Vos) and ALEC\'s “private enterprise chair” in the state, who just happens to be a lobbyist for ALEC members such as Koch Industries.<br /><br />As a result of its investigation, CMD found that ALEC\'s IRS filings state that ALEC does not consider this money to be revenue, since it\'s held in a segregated account until ALEC\'s state chair, the legislator, disburses it to member legislators.<br /><br />So, a state legislator and a lobbyist raise corporate funds, that corporate money goes into a segregated account, then the state chair disburses the money and there\'s nothing particularly secret about it, CMD\'s complaint alleges.<br /><br />But that\'s not how ALEC portrayed its scholarships to the state Government Accountability Board (GAB).<br /><br />According to documents that just turned up, <a href=\"http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/04/11420/cmd-documents-alec%u2019s-contradictory-claims-wisconsin-ethics-board\" target=\"_blank\">ALEC\'s attorney in Wisconsin, Mike Wittenwyler</a>, wrote a letter to the GAB in 2010 stating that scholarship disbursement decisions are made by ALEC staff. <br /><br />CMD disputes Wittenwyler\'s letter, saying that ALEC\'s own IRS statements show that it doesn\'t touch the money. The state chairs do.<br /><br />For more documents, <a href=\"http://alecexposed.org/w/images/8/80/Exhibits_Ethics_Letter2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">click here</a>.<br /><br /><br />
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