BREAKING: Leaked Documents Show NH Legislators Asked to Take Pledge Putting Corporate Front Group Ahead of Constituents

Concord, NH – New leaked documents show that corporate special interest lobbying group the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) asked state chairs,  including New Hampshire State Representatives Gary Daniels (R-Milford) and Jordan Ulery (R-Hudson), to sign a pledge stating,: "I will act with loyalty and put the interests of the organization first." 

The pledge for elected officials to put their affiliation with ALEC over their oath of office was revealed in documents released about ALEC in an investigative report by The Guardian newspaper this week.

ALEC allows corporations to draft legislation that directly benefits their bottom line, then sit side by side with ALEC legislators to vote on which ones to introduce in State Houses across the country. The Guardian expose highlights the extent of this relationship; it also details ALEC’s internal concerns about lobbying while pretending to be a charitable organization and its plans to win back corporate members who left the organization in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting where the ALEC-supported Stand Your Ground law came into wide recognition.

ALEC’s legislative agenda for 2014 includes plans to harass navigators who help uninsured Americans sign up for affordable health coverage and to continue to push for a repeal of the minimum wage. These policies and others will be discussed at ALEC’s annual “State and Nation Policy Summit” in DC today, which several New Hampshire ALEC legislators are anticipated to be participating in – including Daniels, Ulery, Lenette Peterson (R-Merrimack), JR Hoell (R-Bow) and Pam Tucker (R-Greenland).

Other NH ALEC members include State Rep. Marilinda Garcia (R-Salem), who is running for Congress from the 2nd Congressional District; Deputy Republican Whip Rep. Andrew Renzullo (R-Hudson); and early participants in the Free State Project Rep. Carol McGuire (R-Epsom) and Rep. Dan McGuire (R-Epsom).

“It is unbelievable that these politicians participate in an organization that asks them to pledge allegiance to corporate special interests over their constituents,” said Zandra Rice Hawkins, executive director of Granite State Progress. “New Hampshire’s ALEC state chairs Representatives Gary Daniels and Jordan Ulery must publicly denounce ALEC’s loyalty oath and apologize to Granite State families for their behavior. Any New Hampshire legislator involved in ALEC should immediately end their membership and stop being a shill for policies that hurt Granite State families and small businesses.”

Granite State Progress has been the New Hampshire leader in exposing ALEC’s role in writing New Hampshire’s laws and which legislators are members of ALEC.  More information about ALEC’s shadowy role in New Hampshire state policy is available by request.

Link to the Guardian story – state chair pledge is highlighted on page 20 of embedded document:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/03/alec-funding-crisis-big-donors-trayvon-martin

Link to the ALEC website listing Daniels and Ulery as the New Hampshire chairs: http://www.alec.org/about-alec/state-chairmen/ 

Link to past Granite State Progress reports on ALEC and NH legislators:

http://granitestateprogress.org/blog/2012-06-09/alec-exposed