Washington— On Wednesday, February 13, 2013, the Economic Policy Institute will host a media conference call on the economic policy agenda promoted by the American Legislative Exchange Council [3] (ALEC)—an agenda that would weaken state economies, harm working families and put the interests of corporations and the most affluent households before the common good.

ALEC—a network of conservative state legislators, corporate lobbyists and anti-government activists—recently faced intense scrutiny for its promotion of strict voter identification laws and the controversial “stand your ground” gun policy. It’s also been highly visible in its work to repeal health-care reform, push for education vouchers, and sharply scale back environmental protections and social safety-net programs. But ALEC’s economic and fiscal policy agenda is less well-reported. This agenda centers on state tax and budget policy prescriptions and privatization plans, many of which are extreme and would place at risk key building blocks of broadly shared prosperity. It is an agenda that benefits corporations and the wealthiest citizens, at the expense of other Americans.

The experts featured at this briefing are authors of reports that examine ALEC’s economic and fiscal policies. They will share their findings, which demonstrate that ALEC’s policies pose a threat to investments important to economic growth, while advancing corporate interests. After the initial presentations, the panelists will field questions. Copies of the reports are available:

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ report is available here [4].
In the Public Interest's report is available here. [5]
Good Jobs First and Iowa Policy Project's report is available here [6].

To register for the call contact EPI’s media relations department at news@epi.org or 202-775-8810.

What:    Media conference call briefing on ALEC’s agenda in states
When:    Wednesday, February 13, at 1 p.m. ET
Who:    Moderator: Doug Clopp, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Common Cause
Erica Williams, Senior Policy Analyst, State Fiscal Project, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Peter Fisher, Research Director, Iowa Policy Project
Shar Habibi, Resource Center Director, In the Public Interest
NOTE: Lisa Graves, Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy and publisher of PRWatch.org, ALECexposed.org and Sourcewatch.org, will be available to take questions during the question-and-answer period

Register:    Contact Phoebe Silag or Donté Donald in the Economic Policy Institute media relations department at news@epi.org or 202-775-8810 to RSVP and for call-in information.

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