Revealed: ALEC conference sponsors, numerous ties to Koch Network

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is holding its States and Nation Policy Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona this week. At the event, corporate lobbyists mingle with state legislators, with significant parts of the meeting closed to the public and press. A list of the meeting sponsors, provided to Documented and listed below, reveals numerous groups tied to the Koch-network.

During the event, the ALEC board chair Alan Clemmons, announced via a tweet a new “partnership” between ALEC and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a group described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a "hate group" over its bigoted anti-LGBTQ activism.

The top (Chairman level) sponsor, the Center for the Study of Economic Liberty at Arizona State University, is an academic center that looks at "the broad societal effects of free markets, private property rights and entrepreneurship." It was founded with funding from the Charles Koch Foundation (CKF), one of many such centers around the country that are funded by CKF. Arizona State University received $2.25m from the Charles Koch Foundation in 2018, according to tax filings reviewed by Documented.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the Koch network's grassroots organization is a Vice Chairman level sponsor. As Documented previously revealed, AFP brought 55 of its staff to the ALEC Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas in August 2019, more than any other organization. AFP sponsored the Annual Meeting, also revealed by Documented.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), and Goldwater Institute are all "Vice Chairman" level sponsors. All three are part of the State Policy Network (SPN), a Koch-funded network of state level think tanks. According to a 2010 list of TPPF donors, inadvertently made public, the group received $160,000 from Koch industries that year. According to a review of tax filings by Documented, TPPF received more than $1.2m from the Charles Koch Foundation in 2018, and the Goldwater Institute received $100,000.

The Cato Institute, a "Director" level sponsor, was founded in 1974 by Charles Koch. It has received tens of millions of dollars from the Koch family since its founding. In 2018, it received $2.1m from the Charles Koch Foundation, according to a review of recent tax filings by Documented.

Full list of sponsors:

Chairman
Center for the Study of Economic Liberty at Arizona State University

Vice Chairman
AHA Foundation
Altria
Americans for Prosperity
Bayer
Fair Lines Foundation
Foundation for Government Accountability
Goldwater Institute
Guarantee Trust Life
PhRMA
Prison Fellowship
Security Innovation Center
Texas Public Policy Foundation

Director
Axon
CATO Institute
K12
MEDNAX

Trustee
Arizona Rock Products Association

Photograph of Charles Koch by Kevin Moloney/Fortune Brainstorm TECH. Used under creative commons license.