A March 30 Maine Compass piece complained that the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics is investigating the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC (“Ethics commission moves forward with nuisance complaint against conservative group“). In this, ALEC was portrayed as a noble institution.

This cannot remain unchallenged. ALEC is an ultra-conservative group focused on destroying American democracy as we understand and appreciate it. Their national chair is Karen Fann, the Arizona State Senate president who was the force behind the farcical Cyber Ninja “recount” of presidential votes from 2020. If one looks at the rest of their leadership team (https://alec.org/about/leadership/), one sees only White faces, including Maine’s Trey Stewart. No non-Anglos allowed.

On their “Board of Scholars” is Arthur Laffer, whose Laffer Curve has been used to support so-called “supply-side economics,” predicting that lowering tax rates will increase government revenues by increasing investment and productivity. This has been shown repeatedly not to work. Even Bloomberg Businessweek says that ALEC gives business interests excessive influence.

ALEC has drafted hundreds of legislative bills to be introduced in state legislatures, whose goals include loosening environmental regulations, tightening voter identification rules, weakening labor unions, and opposing gun control. In over 30 legislatures, they have passed resolutions calling for a Constitutional Convention, something even the late Justice Antonin Scalia himself said was “a very bad idea.” Once such resolutions pass 38 state legislatures, the Constitution would be dissolved, and a Constitutional Convention would draft a new one.

All our current constitutional rights could cease to exist. There may be no safeguards whatever for minorities, women, or any other group that has been subject to abuse or discrimination in the past. Maine’s Legislature has repeatedly rejected this proposed resolution, but ALEC continues to push, quietly, for passage.

It is fitting, if not overdue, for the Ethics Commission to investigate ALEC and its activities within Maine.

Robert Nelson

Clinton