Organizations primarily engaged in partisan political activity aren't supposed to have this status.
ALEC is lying about it's status
Intro to Primer on ALEC
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Corporate America's Trojan Horse in the States
The Untold Story Behind the American Legislative Exchange Council
Chapter One -- Overview
This report examines the history, finances, and activities of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a 501(c)(3) organization with headquarters in Washington, D.C., that bills itself as �the nation�s largest bipartisan, individual membership association of state legislators.�
As this report shows, however, ALEC is little more than a tax-exempt screen for major U.S. corporations and trade associations that use it to influence legislative activities at the state level. ALEC allows these corporations to do what they couldn�t attempt directly or openly without risking public criticism. They funnel cash through ALEC to curry favor with state lawmakers through junkets and other largesse in the hopes of enacting special-interest legislation � all the while keeping safely outside the public eye.
The organization�s national meetings appear to be mostly window dressing for policy decisions that have already been made, either within the organization�s offices in Washington, D.C., or in closed consultations with the corporations and other like- minded interests that finance virtually all its activities. Indeed, the state legislators who attend ALEC meetings are joined by the platoons of lobbyists, corporate executives, and representatives of assorted trade and professional associations who pay to have the lawmakers as their captive audience.
The tie that binds is money, and ALEC�s major underwriters have included the now-disgraced Enron Corporation, as well as the American Nuclear Energy Council, the American Petroleum Institute, Amoco, Chevron, Coors Brewing Company, Shell, Texaco, Chlorine Chemistry Council, Union Pacific Railroad, Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, Waste Management, Philip Morris Management Corporation, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and many other of the nation�s major corporations and trade associations.
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read the rest at:
http://www.alecwatch.org/chapterone.html
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