Though the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) was formed almost 40 years to organize conservative state legislators and allow them to share and replicate one another’s legislative ideas — and has been “soliciting more input from private sector members” about what is good for them for more than 20 years — it wasn’t until recently that it attracted almost any scrutiny for its promulgation of everything from Stand Your Ground laws to voter ID to business-friendly tort reforms. That increased scrutiny may have just started to get costly for ALEC.
According to National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” on Thursday, beverage behemoths Coke and Pepsi have both dropped their memberships to the conservative lobbying organization. The advocacy group Color of Change began a call-in campaign on Wednesday threatening a boycott of Coca-Cola and its products. The company announced within hours that it will not be renewing their membership in ALEC.