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Who Funds ALEC?

Who Funds ALEC?. Who Funds ALEC?. More than 98% of ALEC’s revenues come from sources other than legislative dues, such as corporations, corporate trade groups, and corporate foundations.

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Who Funds ALEC?

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  1. Who Funds ALEC?

  2. Who Funds ALEC? More than 98% of ALEC’s revenues come from sources other than legislative dues, such as corporations, corporate trade groups, and corporate foundations.

  3. Each corporate member pays an annual fee between $7,000 and $25,000 a year, and if a corporations participates in any of the nine task forces, additional fees apply, from $2,500 to $10,000 each year.

  4. ALEC also receives direct grants from corporations, sucha s $1.4 million from ExxonMobil from 1998-2009. ALEC has also received grants from some of the biggest foundations funded by corporate CEOs in the country.

  5. The Corporations Claim Tax-Deductions *ALEC is organized under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code. Charities organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code as well as nonprofits are tax exempt, but ALEC's charitable status had also allowed its corporate members to write-off their ALEC membership dues and costs as tax-deductible charitable contributions.

  6. Requirements of Section 501(c)(3)

  7. Expected IRS Audit ALEC's charitable status has been challenged in multiple IRS complaints in the past year and behind the scenes, ALEC's leadership apparently recognizes their vulnerability. ALEC appears to be anticipating an IRS audit. According to internal ALEC documents, the organization has discussed forming a nonprofit organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, apparently in anticipation of the IRS revoking ALEC's current "charitable" status.

  8. What they will do • ALEC Executive Director Ron Scheberle discussed forming a 501(c)(4) called "ALEC NOW" in an August memo, claiming that if a 501(c)(4) were “operating fully prior to an IRS audit,” the agency might allow the newly-formed (c)(4) to continue operating and take over activities impermissible for a (c)(3) charity. • IRS rules are clear that a charity which loses its exemption for excessive lobbying cannot reorganize as a 501(c)(4). But nonprofit law experts tell the Center for Media and Democracy that ALEC may be able to get around this rule by forming the (c)(4) in advance of the audit.

  9. Requirements of Section 501(c)(4)

  10. Rough Year for ALEC The leaked memo caps a difficult year for ALEC that has seen it shed over 40 major corporate members and the loss of more than 70 legislative members. ALEC came under particularly intense criticism over its role in advancing laws that make it harder to vote, that criminalize immigrants, protect corporations from civil liability, thwart environmental regulations, and cut holes in the social safety net - all while enjoying tax-exempt "charitable" status. Most recently, ALEC has been directly tied to Michigan's anti-union "right to work" push, with the language in the Michigan law lifted verbatim from the ALEC model.

  11. UNITED STATES OF ALEC http://youtu.be/Q0CaOhS7wJg?t=6m34s ALEC – NEWS, INSIGHTS http://youtu.be/JgHX0oOlLIc

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