{"id":1094,"date":"2012-02-20T08:34:38","date_gmt":"2012-02-20T13:34:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/ive-found-that-minnesotans-do-not-want-their-laws-written-by-the-lobbyists-of-big-corporations-mn-gov-mark-dayton.html"},"modified":"2012-02-20T08:34:38","modified_gmt":"2012-02-20T13:34:38","slug":"ive-found-that-minnesotans-do-not-want-their-laws-written-by-the-lobbyists-of-big-corporations-mn-gov-mark-dayton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/ive-found-that-minnesotans-do-not-want-their-laws-written-by-the-lobbyists-of-big-corporations-mn-gov-mark-dayton.html","title":{"rendered":"“I’ve found that Minnesotans do not want their laws written by the lobbyists of big corporations” — MN Gov. Mark Dayton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Remember
\n
\nAmerican Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)<\/a>,
\nthe
\n
\nbig corporate lobby group<\/a> that
\n
\nhelps CCA push for private prisons?<\/a>
\nThe one that
\n
\nlobbied 24 states<\/a>
\nto pass “anti-immigration” laws that create new misdemeanors and felonies
\nto send more customers to CCA prisons?
\nOne governor has decided he’s had enough of that.<\/p>\n

\nZaid Jilani wrote for Republic Report 15 February 2012,
\n
\nMinnesota Governor Calls Out Corporate Front Group ALEC, Vetoes Its Bills<\/a><\/p>\n

\nIt has grown so powerful that it now has
\n
\nnearly one-third<\/a>
\nof all state legislators under its umbrella.<\/p>\n

\nALEC has worked with legislators to pass bills ranging from issues
\nas diverse as stripping unionized workers of their rights to
\n
\nmaking it harder for low-income citizens to vote.<\/a>
\nIt is usually able to do so because it hands its corporate-written
\ntemplate bills to state legislators and gets them passed without any
\npublic scrutiny as to the origin of this legislation.<\/p>\n

\nLate last week, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D)
\n
\n<\/a>
\n
\ndecided<\/a> that
\ncorporate front groups like ALEC should not be able to write his
\nstate’s laws. Dayton decided to veto a series of “tort
\nreform” bills that would’ve restricted the rights of citizens
\nto sue to hold big corporations responsible. In a press conference
\ndiscussing his vetoes, Dayton condemned ALEC for providing the
\ntemplates for the bills. “I’ve found that Minnesotans
\n
\ndo not want<\/a>
\ntheir laws written by the lobbyists of big corporations,” said
\nDayton.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here’s
\nvideo:<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n