CMD Applauds Senator Van Wanggaard's Move to Distance Himself from Corporate-Funded ALEC Scholarships, Asks That He Renounce ALEC Membership | Center for Media and Democracy

CMD Applauds Senator Van Wanggaard's Move to Distance Himself from Corporate-Funded ALEC Scholarships, Asks That He Renounce ALEC Membership | Center for Media and Democracy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 18, 2012
CONTACT: Sara Jerving, sara@prwatch.org

The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) applauds Senator Van Wanggaard's move to distance himself from the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) "scholarship" program, and is asking that he now renounce his membership in the organization.
CMD filed a complaint with the Government Accountability Board (GAB) in March describing how the so-called ALEC "scholarship fund" that pays for ALEC member legislators' travel to resorts for ALEC meetings is funded entirely by corporations. CMD asked the GAB to issue a public ruling that these gifts violate Wisconsin's ethics and lobbying laws, which prohibit elected officials from accepting anything of value -- even a cup of coffee -- from corporations that employ lobbyists in the state. Wanggaard has insisted that he has never accepted a corporate-funded plane ticket or hotel room through his membership in ALEC, the controversial group responsible for policies that attack working people and environmental protections, and has pushed laws like Stand Your Ground/Shoot First. Read More Here | Center for Media and Democracy