Sally called when she got the word,
And she said: "I suppose you've heard -
About Alice".
When I rushed to the window,
And I looked outside,
And I could hardly believe my eyes -
As a big limousine rolled up
Into Alice's drive...

Living Next Door To Alice (Nicky Chinn / Mike Chapman)

So who is this ALEC, and what are they doing in North Dakota.

At its heart, ALEC is little more than a tax-exempt front for some of the nation’s largest corporations, as companies ranging from Enron, ExxonMobil, Coors Brewing, Pfizer, Phillip Morris and many others companies have paid for ALEC’s expansion. Roughly three hundred “private sector members” – corporate sponsors paying tens of thousands of dollars each year – run the show at ALEC. They finance the organization and select the key issues it pushes. Dues by state legislators are nominal and amount to less than 1% of ALEC’s funding each year.  A representative of the pharmaceutical industry co-chairs the organization through its “Private Enterprise Board” of Directors, and representatives of the tobacco, food, telecom industries, along with traditional “New Right” companies like Coors and Koch Industries share in national leadership of ALEC.

Progressive States Network Report (p. 5)

ALEC is not what it may seem to be to naive folks. 

ALEC’s role is especially insidious because state law-making bodies are even more vulnerable to secretive and well-financed corporate advocacy than the U.S. Congress. Many states have little or no public reporting requirements that would require disclosure of junkets and gifts awarded to legislators by ALEC, and little or no lobbying disclosure laws requiring public release of information about ALEC’s funding support and methods of operation. State legislatures are often made up primarily of underpaid, under-appreciated, part-time lawmakers with few if any personal staff to help research, evaluate and enact complex laws, and are notoriously parsimonious in providing for their own analytical needs. Meanwhile, the public advocacy groups most likely to oppose corporate excesses are too thinly funded to compete effectively in most states. For all of these reasons, ALEC’s approach of brazenly promoting a corporate agenda as the product of a supposedly objective, nonprofit organization is especially effective in state legislatures, and especially attractive to the corporations that set its advocacy agenda.

Corporate America's Trojan Horse in the States (pp. 1-2)

ALEC has had at least one of its lobbyists in North Dakota, lobbying for some of its anti-corporate-accountability legislation since at least the week of January 12th through the 16th.  One ALEC lobbyist -- Cory Schaecher -- was passing out his business card that week.  A copy of his business card was given to a legislator that week and is on file in the office of North Dakota Senate Minority Leader David O'Connell.  ALEC's model legislation was introduced in the North Dakota legislature on January 15th.  

Schaecher and another ALEC lobbyist -- Mark Behrens -- registered as lobbyists eight days later on January 23rd and picked up their ID cards on Monday of this week.  They registered as lobbyists for a company called "Crown Cork & Seal Co., Inc." out of Philadelphia.  Then, on January 27th, Behrens appeared as a lobbyist on behalf of ALEC before the North Dakota House Judiciary Committee.  According to the Secretary of State's registered lobbyist list, as of today neither Behrens nor Schaecher have registered in North Dakota as lobbyists for ALEC.  [UPDATE #1:  ALEC sent in "Letters of Authorization" to the Secretary of State's website office on Friday afternoon at 4:17 p.m.; a few hours after this blog post was published.  The Secretary of State's list now suggests Behrens and Schaecher can start lobbying for ALEC.  That doesn't change anything contained in the rest of this blog post.]

Without even getting into the substantive deception contained in the testimony of Behrens to the House Judiciary Committee, you need to know that it looks like at least Behrens has committed a class B misdemeanor crime by misrepresenting for whom he is lobbying.  He told the Judiciary Committee he's lobbying for ALEC, but he's told the Secretary of State he's lobbying for Crown Cork & Seal. How do I know he told the committee he's lobbying for ALEC?  I usually just make this stuff up -- ;-) -- but this time I say it because the written testimony he handed out to members of the House Judiciary Committee when he testified on two bills -- (HB1430 and HB1384) -- says so on the front page.  

So, if you're following along so far, this ALEC lobbyist has attempted to influence members of the legislature without making known to them the real and true interest he has in the matter as a lobbyist for an asbestos manufacturer.

Who cares whether these guys lobby for ALEC or Crown (or for the North Dakota Chamber of Commerce, for that matter)?!?  

You should care. 

ALEC threw a big party Wednesday night in Bismarck.  It was announced on the floor of the State House, invitations were left on the legislators' desks, and a full-color e-mail invitation went around to members of both parties.  (Click here for black and white pdf copy.)  ALEC has been lobbying North Dakota's legislators pretty hard since at least the week of January 12th.  

What the House Judiciary Committee might not know is that these ALEC lobbyists are actually lobbying for Crown Cork & Seal Co., Inc., a company with significant interest in asbestos liability laws. According to legislative testimony submitted by Grand Forks attorney David Thompson, in 1963, Crown absorbed most of the ownership of an asbestos manufacturing company.  By 1949, the Journal of the American Medical Association had recognized asbestos as a cause of cancer and states' workers comp bureaus were already recognizing asbestosis as a compensable occupational disease.  Crown was run by grown-ups who were well aware of the fact that by buying the other company, Crown was also buying its liabilities.  That's just how it works.

So now Crown Cork & Seal's lobbyists -- misrepresenting themselves to our House Judiciary Committee as lobbyists for ALEC -- are here in North Dakota advocating for a law called... get this... the "Innocent Successor" asbestos liability law.  I assure you there is nothing "innocent" about Crown Cork and Seal or its lobbyists.  Quite the contrary.  They want North Dakota's legislators to pass a law saying people injured by asbestos manufactured by a Crown company shouldn't be able to hold the manufacturer accountable for the injuries those innocent people suffered as a result of the negligent conduct of the asbestos manufacturer.  They want companies that neglegently injured thousands and thousands of people to be able to avoid liability by simply transfering ownership of the company to someone else. And they are -- in my opinion -- clearly violating North Dakota's lobbying laws while they do it.

NDCC § 54-05.1-06 is North Dakota's "Unlawful influence on legislators" law.  Here's what it says:

Unlawful means to influence legislative assembly. In addition to the violation of any other provision of this chapter, it is unlawful for any lobbyist or for any other person:

1. To directly or indirectly give or agree to give any money, property, or valuable thing, or any security therefor, to any person for that person's service or the service of any other person in procuring the passage or defeat of any measure before the legislative assembly or either house thereof, or before any committee thereof, upon the contingency or condition that any measure will be passed or defeated.

2. To directly or indirectly receive or agree to receive any such money, property, thing of value, or security for such service, upon any such contingency or condition, as set forth in the preceding subsection.

3. To attempt to influence any member of the legislative assembly without first making known to such member the real and true interest the person has in such measure, either personally or as agent or attorney.

NDCC § 54-05.1-06 (emphasis added)

As noted above, these lobbyists have (or at least one of them has) represented to an entire state legislative committee that he represents (or they represent) ALEC.  One of them -- Behrens -- did so on paper.  That paper is a part of the official record of our House Judicary Committee.  You can read it by clicking here.  He has (or they have) registered as lobbyists for Crown Cork & Seal.  They only did so on January 23rd; eight days after this model ALEC law was introduced.  And "ALEC" is also wining and dining our legislators -- in the middle of our legislative session -- without having a registered lobbyist in North Dakota.  To me this seems like a clear violation of the law.

So one things seems clear to me right now: people are illegally lobbying in North Dakota right now.  I talked to Grand Forks attorney David Thompson about this and he said he's concerned that others in Bismarck are assisting Crown and ALEC in what he thinks (and I think) is illegal lobbying.  He sent me a note that included this explanation:

Schaecher was aided and assisted in lobbying legislators during the week of January 12-16, 2009, by Jeb Oehlke, Lobbyist Badge No. 31 -- who is registered as a lobbyistonly for the Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber's alter ego -- the Economic Development Association of North Dakota.  To the extent that someone might try to suggest that Oehlke's assistance to Schaecher serves to somehowimmunize Schaecher -- I would direct them to the provisions of the North Dakota criminal statute relating to "Accomplices" -- N.D.C.C. § 12.1-03-01, which would relate to Oehlke's involvement -- where this statute provides, in pertinent part, that: "(1)A person may be convicted of an offense base upon the conduct of another person when . . .  b. (w)ith intent that an offense be committed he . . . aids the other to commit it or, having a statutory duty to prevent its commission, he fails to make proper effort to do so; or  (c) (h)e is a coconspirator and his association with the offense meets the requirements of either of the other subdivisions of this subsection . . ."  (emphasis added).  It should be remembered that the "intent" element referenced in N.D.C.C. § 12.1-03-01(1)(b) must be considered within the context that the crimes described in N.D.C.C. Chapter 54-05.1 -- as punishable pursuant to the criminal penalty provisions of N.D.C.C. § 54-05.1-07 --- as those crimes are, in essence, "strict liability" crimes -- requiring only an general intent to commit the underlying proscribed acts described throughout N.D.C.C. § 54-05.1.

This makes me wonder who else might be an accomplice to lobbying crimes taking place in Bismarck.  For example, who distributed the party invitation to all the legislators this week?  Did anybody announce publicly, on the floor of our legislature for example, that ALEC was hosting a party where it would be wining and dining legislators?  Who's involved in this?  This seems like the sort of thing a competent investigative journalist -- if North Dakota had one -- might look into.  Or a law enforcement officer.

I don't know how many of them there are, but the list of criminal defendants should probably include Behrens and Schaecher.  ALEC is influencing our state legislators -- and by getting ALEC's model legislation introduced in North Dakota's legislator, it is clear they are succeeding -- without registering as lobbyists.  Crown and its Philadelphia law firm seems to be in on it.  These people need to be held accountable.

This is a violation of state law that is taking place in the North Dakota State Capitol Building, right under the nose of our Attorney General and our Highway Patrol, who provide security and law enforcement in the building.  It is the responsibility of our Attorney General and his office's investigative arm -- the Bureau of Criminal Investigations -- and our Governor, and his State Highway Patrol, to investigate and prosecute crimes that take place on state property and at the Doublewood Inn, where ALEC lobbied many Republican legislators. 

I believe a real investigation should happen, and now.  If these things all are true -- and they sure appear to be -- then these lobbyists should be charged criminally.  ALEC -- as an organization -- should be charged criminally.  Anybody who aided and abetted should be charged.

The failure of our Attorney General to take action is yet another indication that our Attorney General is failing to honor the oath he took when he took office.  

Wayne.  We, the citizens of North Dakota, call on you to start doing your job.  You are North Dakota's top law enforcement officer.  That's what we elected you to do.  That's what you are paid to do.

John Hoeven.  The Highway Patrol is a state agency under your authority.  They have authority to investigate crimes that take place on the Capitol Grounds.  Get out from under your desk and tell them to investigate this.  

Do your jobs.

We deserve it.

Comments (16)

spababe said:

Long history of ALEC Be afraid, be very afraid. ALEC has is claws in a number ND legislators. They have been members for years. ALEC charges about $50 for membership for legislators. Legislators then get invited to fun hot spots around the country to "learn" about issues. If you remember a few years ago, some ND republican legislators left their posts to jet off to a fancy hotel in Las Vegas. So just how does ALEC work? Here's how: Companies like Corrections Corporation of America, and other huge corporations pay huge amount of money to become members, not the 50 bucks the legislators pay. Then, the corporations have to pay an additional amount (huge) to sit on specific task forces, like transportation, education, etc. The republican legislators and the business payees then sit around the task force table and come up with "model legislation" that the legislators are expected to take back to their respective states and introduce it. So the legislators get a cheap trip paid for by big business and they don't have to declare it as a donation nor does the business. I suspect that the 2% property tax cap legislation that Kasper introduced is one such piece of "model Legislation." It is also being done in Kansas and who knows where else. A few years back the National Resources Defense council did a great piece on ALEC. A bad bad deal for North Dakota citizens and citizens in many other states.

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January 30, 2009
Votes: +2

spababe said:

	More on ALEC Go to www.alecwatch.org for more info on ALEC.
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January 30, 2009
Votes: +0

What the Heck said:

	Complicit as usual I sure hope none of these politicians ever find themselves, a family member, or close friend on the wrong end of one of their brilliant 'no accountability' laws. Stenejhem should be removed from office for failure to do his job.
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January 30, 2009
Votes: +2

nimrod said:

	loopholes Oh come now, Chet, I'm sure them there big city lawyers have made sure that ALEC is driving right through those big loopholes at 54-05.1-02(2). And who said there was lobbying at Wednesday's party? I bet they were just looking for legislators to join their little exclusive club. Yeah, that's it.
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January 30, 2009
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Chet said:

	Okay Nimrod's right. Withdrawn.
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January 30, 2009
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iwofndadvocates.com/blog said:

... Moreover, people of this state wonder how North Dakota is labeled the number one corrupt state. Should we be in shock that this is going on in this state, or be like Governor Hoeven and the Attorney General and just look the other way as usual? Is it that we are such a small state that it just does not matter what transpires here, or that this is a crime that can be overlooked? This state and state agencies have done nothing other then try to figure out ways to line their pockets off the backs of the taxpayers of this state, and hope that no one catches on. Well I for one have had enough; I cannot sit by and watch such things go unpunished. Many of us try to raise our kids with dignity, respect for others, honesty, and with the idea that stealing is wrong. How can we sit and try to instill that upon our kids when our own state executives have shown such disregard for every thing we have tired to teach our kids is wrong. I have decided to act on the things I see as an issue, and hope that all of the actions of some state officials will be correctly dealt with in the near future. Although for now it is a wait and see period for me.

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January 30, 2009 | url
Votes: +2

Chet said:

Hey, wait a minute. Maybe I gave in too easily. Okay, sure, they might not have been lobbying when they took all the Republican legislators out for drinks and snacks. But what about the written materials ALEC's lobbyists presented -- with the words "on behalf of the American Legislative Exchange Council" printed in all-caps, bold, on the front page -- that they handed out when they testified in favor of two bills? What loophole will they use to make that not be lobbying? Do you suppose they were just trying to strike up a regular, social conversation with the legislators? Not trying to convince them to vote one way or the other? The words "Enactment of H.B. 1430 is essential as a matter of fundamental fairness..." in the last paragraph of their written testimony might hurt that argument.

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January 30, 2009
Votes: +2

spababe said:

	More on ALEC ALEC was there recruiting more republican legislators to bring home their "model Legislation." The person giving the testimony clearly identifies himself as an ALEC advisor. The guy, in his testimony twice identifies himself as the advisor to ALECs Civil Justice Task Force. ALEC claims to be bipartisan. What a laugh. It is by far and away a republican organization.
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January 30, 2009
Votes: +1

nimrod said:

You caved too quickly, Chet I am falling into line with iwofnd .... Anybody who thinks the "citizen legislature" of ND is doing the bidding of their local constituents is living in a dream world. Go to the Capitol. Look at the lobbyists outnumbering the legislators. How many little Blagojeviches do we have, convinced that what is good for big business is good for ND? And the media is in bed with them all, publishing stories on legislation about UND vs. NDSU football games. Keep the yokels distracted and we can do what we want. Why do you think the important stuff is left until the last minute? To avoid citizen scrutiny and input.

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January 31, 2009
Votes: +4

.MIKE said:

Kickbacks you can bank on. Maybe ALEX is in ND to learn about our great workers compensation system. Seems to me everyone would be at our door to figure out how ND does it. ND workers compensation premium are 44 percent of the national average. Add in premium dividends kickbacks of 40 to 60 percent would put premiums in the 20 to 25 percent range of the national norm and still deliver “sure and certain” relief. Remember reading about the workers compensation declared premium dividends for 2008 in the amount of 91.6 million. You probably don’t. I don’t think it was in the newspaper. Heck, I don’t think it is written up in a news article on WSI website, just quietly hidden in the 2001 – 2008 Quick Facts. http://www.workforcesafety.com...igures.PDF

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January 31, 2009
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.MIKE said:

	... To Chet and others here. "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
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January 31, 2009
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Mitch said:

	And...where's Al? Itsn't it the job of the SOS to police the lobbyists? Or is he too busy covering for the ST? This partially explains why the Better Government Association recently ranked ND 34th in their government integrity index. Chet is dead on.
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January 31, 2009
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I have issues said:

It does not matter... It does not matter...if they were actively lobbying or not. There was an expense to them and that is enough to call it a lobby expense. Sponsoring any event and inviting all of the legislators is lobbying. If business or ALEC was discussed, it is lobbying. If $60 or more per legislator that attended was spent, if any dinner that these scumbags buy is over $60 is a lobby expense and a report must be filed later this year. http://www.nd.gov/eforms/Doc/sfn07654.pdf Interesting that both of those bills have all republican sponsorship and the hearings show the exact same time and date. How convenient for the lobbyists. Ask any REAL hardworking lobbyist who actually works for the people, it is a very rare day when hearing on two bills you are testifying on are heard back to back. 54.05.1 also says: Before engaging in any of the activities listed in section 54-05.1-02, an individual shall register with the secretary of state and receive a certificate of registration and a distinctive lobbyist identification badge that must be prominently worn by the lobbyist when engaged in any of the activities listed in section 54-05.1-02 while on the capitol grounds. and... and... 54-05.1-04. Powers of secretary of state - Granting and revoking of certificates - Referrals and reports to the attorney general. 1. The secretary of state shall: a. Grant a certificate of registration and design and furnish a distinctive lobbyist identification badge to any individual registering under section 54-05.1-03 who supplies the required information. b. Revoke the certificate of registration of any individual who has been convicted of violating any provision of this chapter. c. Refer on the secretary of state's own motion or on the verified complaint of any other person, to the attorney general for investigation, the activities of any individual who the secretary of state has reason to believe has been acting as a lobbyist and who may be in violation of this chapter. Guess you need to add Al to your list of those who are failing at their jobs. Oh ya... 54-05.1-07. Penalty. Any person who violates any provisions of this chapter is guilty of a class B misdemeanor except that a violation of section 54-05.1-02 or 54-05.1-03 is an infraction

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January 31, 2009
Votes: +3

S. Fred Wood said:

	Federalism. So ALEC is big into Federalism. Of course to them Federalism means divide and conquer. Or perhaps letting idiots like Cates and Port work for you. Shall I add a few legislator names to the list?
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January 31, 2009
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Chet said:

	Thinking I'm thinking about this and wondering... does the fact that they registered as a lobbyists for ALEC after I wrote this blog post (and after they had been lobbying in North Dakota for at least several weeks) amount to additional proof that even they acknowledge they violated the law? Food for thought.
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February 02, 2009
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I have issues said:

Still a violation?? Just because they registered after the fact does not deter from the fact that when they gave testimony and lobbied and had a social they were misrepresenting themselves. We still have a failure at the higher levels of state government to enforce, even recognize, our state laws. Breaking the law is breaking the law, no matter how you look at it. Did your post have something to do with their late registration? Maybe. Did the Sec. of States office know they gave testimony while representing themselves as someone they were not? Probably. Will the SOS or the AG do anything about it? Doubtful. One thing is for sure, if it was me who was misrepresenting myself, I certainly would be well on my way to being one of the Boyelyn sisters.

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February 03, 2009
Votes: +2

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