American Legislative Exchange Council
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a Virginia-based non-profit organization that brings together Republican state legislators and corporate lobbyists in order to create model legislation for statehouses across the country. The organization defines its core principles as “limited government, free markets, and federalism.” Besides big corporate donors, The Center for Media and Democracy found that the conservative Bradley Family Foundation was the top contributor to ALEC between 2017-21, followed by Charles Koch, the Charles Koch Institute, and the Searle Freedom Trust, whose money comes from the G.D. Searle pharmaceutical company. Koch Government Affairs also has a representative on their corporate board. ALEC has played a key role in promoting anti-Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) legislation since as early as 2015. 

Another key partner of ALEC is its “sister organization,” the billionaire-funded State Policy Network, which connects conservative think tanks and lobby groups focusing on state-level policy. In Mississippi, the State Policy Network lobbies through the organizations Empower Mississippi and the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.

American Legislative Exchange Council, “About ALEC,” alec.org/about. David Armiak, “ALEC’s Funding Revealed,” Center for Media and Democracy, 25 July 2023, www.exposedbycmd.org/2023/07/25/alecs-funding-revealed. American Legislative Exchange Council, “Private Enterprise Advisory Council,” alec.org/group/private-enterprise-advisory-council-2. Paul Abowd, “Koch-funded charity passes money to free-market think tanks in states,” NBC News, 14 February 2013, www.nbcnews.