ColorOfChange.org changing the color of democracy

The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) announced Monday that it will not renew its membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the right-wing lobbying group responsible for ghostwriting discriminatory voter ID laws and a host of other controversial legislation. 

NACSA and more than a dozen major corporations have announced that they've dropped ALEC since ColorOfChange members began demanding that companies stop funding voter suppression. The education group's statement reads:

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards -- a policy group advocating teacher standards and performance-based pay policies for educators -- has announced that it left the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) on April 18, 2012.

The group joins more than a dozen major corporations that have announced they've cut ties with the right-wing policy group in the wake of the ColorOfChange campaign calling on ALEC's corporate sponsors to stop funding voter suppression. If you haven't already, please join us.

Are voter ID laws racist? This question takes center stage in this video segment produced by True the Vote 2012, a Tea Party affiliated group focused on "...examining the registry, recruiting, training and mobilizing election workers and poll watchers." True the Vote is an outgrowth of the Tea Party Patriots, a Houston-based group whose goals are akin to those of Jim Crow-era pollwatchers. The group uses voter intimidation tactics, driven by its unfounded belief that voter fraud runs rampant and threatens democracy.

As you'll see in the clip, a staffer from the conservative Media Research Center asks a series of Black respondents, "Do you think you should have to show ID when you go to vote?" Unsurprisingly, the majority of the respondents say yes. What's wrong with having to prove you are who you say you are?

The for-profit education giant Kaplan has become the latest in a string of major corporations to publicly distance themselves from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the group that has worked to suppress the Black vote.

Kaplan made the decision to leave ALEC in August 2011, but yesterday the Washington Post-owned company acknowledged that it has left ALEC in an email to the Republic Report. It's further proof that corporations have come to see that the right-wing group's agenda is toxic...

Late last week, the Fortune 500 corporation, Procter & Gamble, announced that it has ended its membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). P&G is now the thirteenth company to conclude that membership in ALEC is bad for business since ColorOfChange members began their campaign late last year.

We applaud Procter & Gamble's decision to leave ALEC, and our members hope that its competitor, Johnson & Johnson, follows suit.

Last week, ALEC acknowledged that it was reeling after its corporate sponsors -- some of which pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for membership in the right-wing group -- started dropping like flies. In a statement that sidestepped any admission of wrongdoing for pushing voter suppression and Shoot First bills nationwide, ALEC announced, "We are eliminating the ALEC Public Safety and Elections task force that dealt with non-economic issues, and reinvesting these resources in the task forces that focus on the economy."

We already knew this was a PR stunt. But in an article published today, the Republican state legislator who chaired the disbanded committee confirms it: "ALEC's decision won't impact the important issues we've worked on," Texas State Rep. Jerry Madden told The Christian Post...

According to Caitlyn Korb, Director of External Affairs at the American Legislative Exchange Council, her employer has been "getting absolutely killed in social media venues" ever since ColorOfChange members began calling on corporations to stop funding ALEC. Check out this video, which is excerpted from the Heritage Foundation's weekly bloggers briefing.

In it, Korb works hard to mislead her audience about our efforts. Around 1:45, she alleges that ColorOfChange and our partners have said that ALEC "killed Trayvon Martin." The cynical and dishonest allegations abound. But nowhere does she mention ALEC's involvement in discriminatory voter ID laws or so-called "stand your ground" legislation, even though the group just backed away from the task force that created the model bills...

Yesterday, ColorOfChange got word that Yum! Brands — owners of KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut — has left the American Legislative Exchange Council. Earlier this week, ColorOfChange members started calling Yum and urging the corporation leave the conservative policy group that's pushed discriminatory Stand Your Ground and voter ID laws. Turns out, the company has decided to do just that.

Yum! Brands joins 11 other companies that have announced in recent weeks that they're no longer members of ALEC. This after ColorOfChange launched our effort to shed light on the group's work and its impact on our communities. Stay tuned for more updates as our campaign picks up steam.

Today The New York Times editorial board highlighted the work of ColorOfChange and our partners to convince ALEC's corporate sponsors to abandon the right-wing policy group. In an editorial titled "Embarrassed by Bad Laws," the NYT calls out the organization's hollow efforts to defend itself.

Despite clear evidence that ALEC has pushed voter ID bills and Kill at Will laws, the organization has said, "it is only interested in job creation, government accountability and pro-business policies." Check out the full NYT piece here, and take a look at our response to ALEC's latest statement.

ColorOfChange applauds Mars Inc.'s decision to end it's membership with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Today, Mars -- makers of Snickers, M&M's and MilkyWay amoung other products -- becomes the seventh company to sever ties with the right-wing group. ColorOfChange began communicating with Mars in January. Today's announcement confirms that when corporations become educated about ALEC's role in pushing voter suppression and Kill at Will bills, they realize that association with ALEC is bad for business.