|
For Immediate Release
April 17, 2012
Contact: Anna Scholl
(434) 218-2113
anna@progressva.org
ProgressVA Launches Campaign Calling On VA Legislators To Quit ALEC
10 companies have fled corporate front group while Virginia lawmakers remain silent
ProgressVA today launched a new campaign urging Virginia legislators to cut ties with the controversial corporate front group, American Legislative Exchange Council. Ten major companies have left the organization in recent days over the organization's push for Voter ID and "Stand Your Ground" legislation across the country.
Tom Perriello, former Virginia Congressman and current President of Center for American Progress Action, launched the campaign with a call to action to thousands of Virginians. "ALEC crafts bills that put their corporate funders ahead of consumers, assault public health and basic environmental protections, and systematically make it more difficult for Virginians to vote, reversing decades of progress since the Jim Crow era," said Perriello. "I encourage all Virginians to encourage their representatives to start prioritizing constituents over corporate donors."
A recent ProgressVA report detailed the full effect of ALEC--which allows large corporations to write big-business friendly bills and helps legislators advance this legislation on the state level--on Virginia's political system. At least 50 bills introduced in the General Assembly are directly traceable to ALEC and over $230,000 of taxpayer money has been spent sending legislators to ALEC junkets.
Center for American Progress Action recently released "Voter Suppression 101", a comprehensive report about ALEC and other groups' efforts to roll back progress on getting young people, communities of color and rural seniors to vote.
In recent days, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Kraft, Intuit, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wendy's, Mars, Inc., Arizona Public Service, Reed Elsevier, and American Traffic Solutions have quit ALEC.
For more information:
###
ProgressVA is a multi-issue progressive advocacy organization dedicated to engaging citizens from across the Commonwealth around issues of immediate state or local concern. www.ProgressVA.org
|
ProgressVA Launches Campaign Calling On VA Legislators To Quit ALEC
For Immediate Release
April 17, 2012
Contact: Anna Scholl
(434) 218-2113
anna@progressva.org
ProgressVA Launches Campaign Calling On VA Legislators To Quit ALEC
10 companies have fled corporate front group while Virginia lawmakers remain silent
ProgressVA today launched a new campaign urging Virginia legislators to cut ties with the controversial corporate front group, American Legislative Exchange Council. Ten major companies have left the organization in recent days over the organization's push for Voter ID and "Stand Your Ground" legislation across the country.
Tom Perriello, former Virginia Congressman and current President of Center for American Progress Action, launched the campaign with a call to action to thousands of Virginians. "ALEC crafts bills that put their corporate funders ahead of consumers, assault public health and basic environmental protections, and systematically make it more difficult for Virginians to vote, reversing decades of progress since the Jim Crow era," said Perriello. "I encourage all Virginians to encourage their representatives to start prioritizing constituents over corporate donors."
A recent ProgressVA report detailed the full effect of ALEC--which allows large corporations to write big-business friendly bills and helps legislators advance this legislation on the state level--on Virginia's political system. At least 50 bills introduced in the General Assembly are directly traceable to ALEC and over $230,000 of taxpayer money has been spent sending legislators to ALEC junkets.
Center for American Progress Action recently released "Voter Suppression 101", a comprehensive report about ALEC and other groups' efforts to roll back progress on getting young people, communities of color and rural seniors to vote.
In recent days, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Kraft, Intuit, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wendy's, Mars, Inc., Arizona Public Service, Reed Elsevier, and American Traffic Solutions have quit ALEC.
For more information:
###
ProgressVA is a multi-issue progressive advocacy organization dedicated to engaging citizens from across the Commonwealth around issues of immediate state or local concern. www.ProgressVA.org