Investigating Power
The legislative assault on housing-insecure Americans is being pushed by the corporation-friendly American Legislative Exchange Council.
Major right-wing funders bankroll the GOP gerrymandering guru responsible for engineering new Texas maps to lock up MAGA control of the U.S. House of Representatives, an examination of tax filings by the Center for Media and Democracy shows.
ALEC’s largest identifiable funder is the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation, which funneled $3.6 million into its coffers between 2019 and 2024. Some of the funds were used to bankroll ALEC CARE, the pay-to-play group’s controversial voter management campaign software.
The American Legislative Exchange Council is bringing together state lawmakers, corporate lobbyists, MAGA followers, and right-wing operatives and funders at the four-star JW Marriott Indianapolis this week for its annual meeting, where once again it will strategize about how to further suppress the vote, prop up the fossil fuel industry, push Trump’s priorities, and more.
Housed in the offices of the Conservative Partnership Institute, the Foundation for Accountability Integrity & Research in Elections Fund (FAIR Elections Fund), brought in $3.9 million between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, and disclosed $2.1 million in expenses, more than three-quarters of which was disbursed in grants to other organizations.
Republican state legislators backed by corporate-funded advocacy groups have also made significant strides toward flattening or eliminating once-progressive state income taxes in this year’s legislative sessions.
The national debate over whether rideshare and delivery drivers should be classified as either independent contractors or employees arrived in Wisconsin this month and is now parked on the desk of Governor Tony Evers (D).
Last August, an investment arm of Koch, Inc. bought shares reflecting 16.1% of the value of the retail shopping app Ibotta, Inc., becoming the company’s largest public shareholder.
Since 2017, state lawmakers have considered abortion abolition bills in at least 21 states. Often called “prenatal equal protection” acts, most were introduced after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and opened the door to this type of legislation, which had previously run counter to SCOTUS precedent on abortion.
CMD has identified the top six organizations working at the state and local levels to dismantle labor regulations and the rights to organize and collectively bargain.