Hundreds protest Brownback initiatives, influence of ALEC

A coalition made up of what one participant called “a ragtag group of brave people” rallied Wednesday on the Statehouse steps to demonstrate their opposition to a range of policy changes advocated by Gov. Sam Brownback.

More than 300 people stood in a light drizzle just outside Brownback’s office to listen to speaker after speaker criticize his proposals to rewrite the tax code, recalibrate the school finance formula, tighten food-stamp eligibility and overhaul Medicaid. Efforts to strengthen abortion restrictions and voter registration requirements also drew criticism.

Brownback, a Republican and former U.S. senator, is pursuing an ambitious agenda in his second year as governor.

Representatives of the Kansas chapter of the National Organization for Women, the NAACP, organized labor and the Kansas National Education Association led the rally. They said the Brownback initiatives were designed to help wealthy individuals and businesses at the expense of middle- and low-income Kansans. They said several of the administration’s initiatives are part of a national policy campaign being orchestrated by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, pro-business organization that appears to be gaining influence in state capitols, particularly those controlled by conservative Republicans.

“We want the governor to know that he needs to put Kansans first — not ideology, not extremism, not corporations and not the American Legislative Exchange Council,” said Tamara Werth, of Lawrence, one of the rally organizers.

Several members of the crowd carried signs that referenced ALEC. One read, “ALEC = Corporate Rule.” Another, “ALEC = Democracy Thief.” Other participants held placards featuring photographs of individual legislators thought to belong to ALEC over the statement, “I put profit over people.”

Several members of the Kansas Legislature — most, if not all, of them conservative Republicans — pay dues to belong to ALEC. They regularly join with legislators from other states and members recruited from the private sector to discuss issues and jointly craft model legislation that is then introduced in multiple states.

This year, ALEC is actively engaged in the lobbying effort for legislation that would cap state spending and eliminate income and corporate taxes over time. Kansas lawmakers also are considering an ALEC-backed bill authorizing the state’s membership in a compact being formed to challenge the federal government’s authority to set health policy.

“It appears to many folks that ALEC has a growing influence on the legislative process in all 50 states,” said Crystal McComas, a Lawrence social worker and rally organizer. “We’re concerned that democracy is being eroded.”

Several influential members of the Kansas Legislature disagree with the criticism of ALEC, including Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee.

“I’ve been an ALEC member for 18 years,” Landwehr said. “I don’t hide from being a conservative. My constituents know I’m a conservative.”

Landwehr said ALEC is a reliable resource for policymakers who believe in limited government and free enterprise.

“ALEC doesn’t send lobbyists down here to twist our arms to tell us what we have to do,” she said. “They lay out some model legislation, and if we like it then a legislator will decide to promote it.”

In addition, Landwehr said she is frustrated by the increasing criticism of Charles Koch and his brother David for supporting ALEC and other organizations that lobby for conservative causes. Wichita-based Koch Industries is the largest privately held company in the United States.

“I just do not understand why it is that a family and a business is being picked out like this to be dumped on across this country because they’ve worked hard and become successful,” she said.

Brownback spokeswoman Sherriene Jones-Sontag said the initiatives being pursued by the governor are aimed at improving the economy for all Kansans.

“The best anti-poverty program is a job,” Jones-Sontag said in an email to KHI News Service. “During the last decade [January 2001 to January 2011], Kansas lost tens of thousands of private sector jobs. We are just beginning to reverse that trend, gaining 12,000 private sector jobs last year. But to make up for the lost decade of job growth, we need a tax policy that encourages investment and rewards work. Gov. Brownback’s tax plan will help to create jobs.”