Letter
Coalition Letters to ALEC Corporate Funders
Related Issues
Coalition Letters to ALEC Corporate Funders on ALEC’s Work Undermine Voting Rights and Democracy
In June 2021, more than 300 civil rights, voting rights, labor, environmental, faith, racial justice, shareholder rights’, healthcare, and public interest organizations sent letters to some of the largest corporate funders of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), urging the companies to cut ties with the organization due to ALEC’s work behind the scenes to push anti-voter laws at the state level, support partisan and racial gerrymandering, and undermine American democracy. You can find a copy of the letter here.
The letter was sent to 1-800-Contacts, Alibaba, Alkermes, Altria, American Electric Power, Anheuser-Busch, Arizona Public Service, Bayer, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, CenturyLink, Charter Communications, Chevron, Coca-Cola Bottling Consolidated, Credit Union National Association, CTIA, Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, EDP Renewables, Eli Lilly, Enova Internal, FedEx, First Solar, GlaxoSmithKline, Guarantee Trust Life Insurance, Koch Industries, Marathon Petroleum Corporation, National Automobile Dealers Association, National Association of Chain Drug Stores, NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, Novartis, Oracle, Peabody Energy, Pfizer, PhRMA, Sanofi, Salt River Project, State Farm, Sunovion, UPS, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Vistra Energy.
Coalition Letters to ALEC Corporate Funders on ALEC’s Involvement with “Save Our Country” COVID-19 Lobbying Effort
In May 2020, more than 70 civil rights, religious, investor, labor, environmental, and public interest organizations sent letters to some of the largest corporate funders of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), urging the companies to cut ties with the organization after ALEC announced it was co-leading a lobbying effort to push the federal government and states to “reopen” despite public health officials’ warnings about COVID-19.
Letter to American Electric Power
Letter to Arizona Public Service
Letter to Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
Letter to Boehringer Ingelheim
- UPDATE: On May 19, 2020, a Boehringer Ingelheim spokesperson told Common Cause that “Boehringer Ingelheim is currently not affiliated with ALEC and will not be making any financial contributions in 2020.”
Letter to Charter Communications
Letter to Guarantee Trust Life Insurance
Coalition Letters to ALEC Corporate Funders on David Horowitz’s Involvement with ALEC
In August 2018, Common Cause joined more than 70 other government reform, civil rights, labor, environmental, and advocacy organizations urging some of the largest corporate funders of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to cut ties with the organization after ALEC gave hatemonger David Horowitz a platform at their recent conference to spread white supremacist, sexist, and racist ideas.
- UPDATE: The Intercept reported on November 29, 2018 that AT&T has cut ties with ALEC. A spokesperson from AT&T issued a statement saying “We have ended our membership with ALEC and their convention speaker was a key factor in the decision.”
Letter to Boehringer Ingelheim
Letter to Charter Communications
- UPDATE: According to a shareholder filing, Comcast has reportedly left ALEC after receiving the coalition letter about Horowitz. Comcast later confirmed to the Philadelphia Inquirer that it had cut ties to ALEC in late 2018.
- UPDATE: On May 2, 2019, a representative from Cox Communications told Common Cause “We have no affiliation with, nor provide any support for ALEC.”
- UPDATE: A representative from Diageo told Common Cause that they have “not been associated with ALEC for quite some time.” Diageo’s decision to cut ties with ALEC was previously not publicly known.
Letter to Dow Chemical Company
- UPDATE: The Intercept reported on November 29, 2018 that Dow is no longer an ALEC funder and does “not tolerate discrimination in any form or support organizations that demonstrate discriminatory language and/or actions.”
- UPDATE: The Intercept reported on November 29, 2018 that Honeywell did not fund ALEC in 2018. This was not previously publicly known.
Letter to Marathon Petroleum Corporation
- UPDATE: A representative from Pfizer sent the following response to Common Cause, stating they were continuing their membership in ALEC: “Thank you for sharing your views. In response to your comments, Pfizer condemns racism and bigotry in all its forms. Our funding of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is specifically for work related to health care policy issues. Pfizer engages with several industry and trade groups that can impact our ability to serve patients. Our engagement with these groups comes with the understanding that we will not always agree with all the positions of the larger organization and/or other members.”
Letter to State Farm Insurance
Letter to Takeda Pharmaceuticals
- UPDATE: On May 7, 2019, a representative from Takeda told Common Cause they are no longer members of ALEC, stating “Thank you for reaching out. Takeda is not a member of ALEC. Please be assured that Takeda is committed to diversity and inclusion – treating everyone regardless of race, gender, age, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, disability, or any other personal characteristic fairly and equally.”
- UPDATE: The Intercept reported on September 15, 2018 that Verizon has decided to cut ties and funding with ALEC after receiving the coalition letter about David Horowitz’s comments.
Other Coalition Letters To ALEC Corporate Funders
Letter to UPS (September 2015)
Letter to Pfizer (March 2015)
Letter to eBay (September 2014)
Letter to Google (September 2014)
