Over the last few months major companies including Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Yelp, Yahoo, International Paper, Occidental Petroleum, News Corp, Overstock.com, SAP America, and AOL have all announced they have left or were leaving the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the secretive group that brings state politicians and corporate lobbyists behind closed doors to rewrite our laws.<\/p>
Common Cause is now able to confirm four other companies that have cut ties with ALEC:<\/strong><\/p> Amerigroup, a healthcare management company that focuses on Medicaid and Medicare consumers, was previously a member of ALEC’s Health and Human Services Task Force. When Common Cause questioned Amerigroup on its ties and funding to ALEC, a spokesperson confirmed that the company no longer participates in ALEC. This comes after ALEC has led efforts at the state level to repeal the Affordable Care Act and block Medicaid expansion. The company spokesperson also reiterated that Wellpoint, Amerigroup’s parent company that left ALEC in 2013, was also not a current member or funder.<\/p> Wells Fargo, a $22 billion banking and financial institution, had told the Center for Media and Democracy that it was cutting ties with ALEC in 2012, but then received criticism when the company sponsored ALEC’s 2013 annual meeting in Chicago. A Wells Fargo spokesperson has now told Common Cause that it is currently not a member or funder of ALEC.<\/p> A spokesperson for Union Pacific, a funder of ALEC events in the past, confirmed to Common Cause that the company is “not a member of ALEC and pays no annual dues to the organization.”<\/p> A spokesperson for EZCorp, a Texas-based pawn shop operator, told Common Cause that the company is not a funder or member of ALEC. EZCorp was previously a “chairman” level sponsor of ALEC’s 2011 annual conference, which equated to $50,000 in 2010.<\/p>Amerigroup<\/h3>
Wells Fargo<\/h3>
Union Pacific<\/h3>
EZCorp<\/h3>