Thursday, January 31, 2013

ALERT! Expose ALEC in Virginia!

Virginians, you can help bring ALEC out of the shadows! Tomorrow, an ALEC accountability bill in the Virginia Legislature will be heard in committee at 9am. The bill, SB1143, would prohibit legislators from using taxpayer money to attend conferences (like the ones ALEC sponsors) if agendas and conference materials are not made available to the public. 

Anti-worker members of Virginia's General Assembly have spent more than $230,000 in recent years traveling to conferences hosted by ALEC. There they meet with wealthy political donors and corporate lobbyists behind closed doors to draft legislation. Though taxpayer dollars frequently pay for these meetings, they aren't open to the public. The bill would only allow public dollars to be spent when access is allowed to public meetings. Agenda and conference materials would be considered public documents and subject to Virginia's Freedom of Information Act.

Progress Virginia has a petition you can sign on to here.

The group is also asking that Virginia residents call or email the committee members. They are:  
Senator Ryan McDougle: district04@senate.virginia.gov, (804) 698-7504
Senator Walter Stosch: district12@senate.virginia.gov, (804) 698-7512
Senator Tommy Norment: district03@senate.virginia.gov, (804) 698-7503
Senator Steve Martin: district11@senate.virginia.gov, (804) 698-7503
Senator Emmett Hanger: district24@senate.virginia.gov, (804) 698-7524
Senator Steve Newman: district23@senate.virginia.gov, (804) 698-7523
Senator John Watkins: district10@senate.virginia.gov, (804) 698-7510
Senator Frank Ruff: district15@senate.virginia.gov, (804) 698-7515
Senator Frank Wagner: district07@senate.virginia.gov, (804) 698-7507
Senator Mark Obenshain: district26@senate.virginia.gov, (804) 698-7526
Senator Ralph Smith: district19@senate.virginia.gov, (804) 698-7519
Senator Chuck Colgan: district29@senate.virginia.gov, (804) 698-7529
Senator Dick Saslaw: district35@senate.virginia.gov, (804) 698-7535
Senator Janet Howell: district32@senate.virginia.gov, (804) 698-7532
Senator Louise Lucas: district18@senate.virginia.gov, (804) 698-7518
Senator Jill Vogel: district27@senate.virginia.gov, (804) 698-7527
We have less than 24 hours, so act now!