The smoking gun.

• Author: Surgey, Nick
• Position: American Legislative Exchange Council on privatization

We obtained this document from a public records request in Ohio, which shows the draft agenda for the American City County Exchange's (ACCE) first meeting in July 2014. ACCE is a new operation of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the forty-year-old corporate-funded group that has promoted a slew of anti-worker bills, voter suppression bills, extreme gun bills--including "Stand Your Ground"--and bills to crush renewable energy. The Center for Media and Democracy unmasked the organization in 2011 with ALECexposed.org. At ALEC, corporate lobbyists actually vote as equals with lawmakers on "model" bills to change Americans' rights. At ALEC conferences lawmakers are wined and dined. ACCE will do that same thing as ALEC, but aims at our city and county officials.

ACCE held its first conference during the ALEC annual meeting in Pallas. Gponsors of the ALEC meeting included fossil-fuel companies Koch Industries, ExxonMobil, and Peabody Energy, tobacco companies Altria and Reynolds American, and the payday loan company Advance America. The American fail Coalition, which represente for-profit bail corporations, is the first "Private Rector Co-Chair" of ACCE

Members were briefed on how ALEC and ACCE work., between sessions, there were many opportunities for lobbyists to chat with elected officials and underwrite...