Democrat Legislator, a Self-Proclaimed ‘Spy,’ Wants to Destroy ALEC

MADISON, Wis.—It’s pretty clear that state Rep. Chris Taylor doesn’t much care for the American Legislative Exchange Council and its limited-government, free-market principles.

But now the Madison Democrat and self-described anti-ALEC spy wants to put regulatory chains on the organization for doing what Taylor’s left-leaning allies freely do every day.

Taylor is the author of the “ALEC Transparency Act,” legislation driven directly by her loathing of the model legislation group, a proposal that on its face appears to be unconstitutional.

It would “require organizations like ALEC” to register and report their “lobbying activities” in the legislature.

It would seem that organizations such as the State Innovation Exchange, also known as SiX, the liberal answer to ALEC, would be bound by the same restrictions. So, too, would a long list of other tax-exempt nonprofits, such as the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, and the United Way.

Taylor did not return multiple calls seeking comment.

Bill Meierling, ALEC’s vice president of communications, said it is “disappointing” that Taylor, an “active member” of ALEC, would introduce “ill-conceived legislation aimed at silencing discussion and debate across the political spectrum.”

“It seems odd Taylor would follow a failing trend using progressive, copy-cat legislation that has already been rejected in other states,” Meierling said.

Taylor’s bill is strikingly similar to liberal model legislation proposed and opposed in several other states with Republican-led legislatures. Interesting that Taylor and her liberal colleagues have railed against conservative model legislation in Wisconsin and elsewhere as she taps language from model legislation that places a huge target on ALEC’s back.

Such legislation also is littered with constitutional questions.

“I have a problem with the notion that people who put out public pronouncements about legislation should be subject to regulatory requirements,” said constitutional law expert Rick Esenberg, president and founder of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. “We all should be free to say what we think the Legislature should or should not do without having to go through a bunch of regulatory hurdles.”

“It’s inconsistent with protection for political speech and participation in democracy, and to the extent that the bill is signaling out ALEC, that’s really wrong,” Esenberg said.

The fact that Taylor dubs her bill the ALEC Transparency Act suggests that it is simply a way to pander to the liberal base, Esenberg said.

“This is a stupid politician trick and not a serious suggestion to address a real problem,” he said.

The bill has about as much chance at passing in this legislature as the Chicago Cubs have winning the World Series this year.

So is there another motivation behind all the press releases for a bill that isn’t going anywhere?

Meierling pointed to the many fundraising appeals Taylor sends out in advance of and following each ALEC meeting she attends. Note Taylor’s post on her ALEC conference experiences. It’s hard to miss the big red “DONATE TODAY” button.

“I expect her purpose with this bill is to make money, not to change Wisconsin,” Meierling said.

Taylor is a member of ALEC, and she makes a big show about openly “spying” on the organization’s meetings, which are open to all legislative members—Republican or Democrat.

“I recently donned a conservative blue suit and suppressed my political ideals to attend an American Legislative Exchange Council conference, the nation’s most influential conservative policy organization,” Taylor wrote in a widely distributed column following one of the meetings. “As a Wisconsin Democratic legislator, I was able to see the ALEC agenda in action.”

She boasted that she “forked over nearly $1,000 out of pocket to cover her ALEC conference expenses,” unlike many of her Republican colleagues, who received “corporate funded ‘scholarships’” to cover travel, hotel, food, and conference registration costs.

Taylor’s bill also requires organizations that provide “scholarship funds” to legislative members for the attendance at conferences to disclose “certain information” within 90 days of each disbursement. She wants names—of legislators, legislative staff, and other state officials who received the funds, along with names of corporations or individuals paying into the fund.

ALEC is among a litany of organizations that offer travel reimbursement for a variety of reasons.

Members of 501(c)(3) organizations are technically donors to those groups. Taylor’s requirement of donor disclosure appears to violate the 10th and 14th amendments and NAACP v. Alabama.

Taylor’s colleague, state Rep. Cory Mason, earlier this month attended a series of events hosted by SiX, including a get-together of 54 left-leaning state lawmakers with President Obama.

While there were no state funds involved in covering the Racine Democrat’s expenditures, according to an open records request with the Assembly clerk, it’s not clear whether Mason received reimbursement from SiX. He did not returns calls seeking comment.

We do know that SiX picked up the tab for a D.C. luncheon.

To Meierling and other right-of-center groups under assault by an increasingly aggressive left, Taylor’s bill is just another example of liberals attempting to restrain ideas they do not like.

“The American Legislative Exchange Council encourages legislators to share ideas across party and state lines to make government work for everyone—something Taylor has never done in Wisconsin,” he said.

Originally published in Watchdog.org.