When you have a dedicated ALEC member as a state legislator, your state can end up having problems. Problems your state would have never had - if it wasn't for the interference of ALEC and their "free market philosophy".
I guess the question arises - how many other states have done this - that we don't know about?
In the ALEC Report " Show Me The Money: Budget-Cutting Strategies for Cash-Strapped States” dated 2002 they advocate that state governments should:
Turn Capital Assets into Financial Assets: Sell or Lease Government Assets and Enterprises Over the past two decades, hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of state-owned enterprises and assets have been sold or leased to the private sector worldwide. These assets have included airports, stadiums, ports, utilities, liquor operations, buildings, land, and gas and electric utilities.
Well – evidently ALEC Alumni Jan Brewer – did exactly what she was told at the ALEC meetings and now Arizona has a mess – but I bet some ALEC corporate sector members are going to make a bundle of money on this.
From Mother JOnes - (there are lots of other resource) (My emphasis)
Arizona Wants to Buy Back State Capitol It Inexplicably Sold
State governments have taken a number of different steps to balance their books in recent years. Texas Gov. Rick Perry (remember him?) proposed a new tax on strip clubs, for example, and a Utah state rep. suggested saving $60 million per year by abolishing the 12th grade. But no proposal struck as much metaphorical gold as Arizona's decision to sell off the state capitol (and a whole bunch of other state properties, such as maximum security prisons) for $735 million in 2009.
The move will cost the state $105 million out of its current budget surplus. Brewer press aide Matthew Benson said the state has the cash.
Republican Gov. Jan Brewer signed off on the deal, and the state now leases the House and Senate chambers from a private real estate company at a considerable long-term cost. Benson acknowledged the state actually got only $81 million for the state House, the Senate and the nine-story executive tower that includes Brewer's office when it negotiated a "sale-leaseback" arrangement in 2010...
"Most of our Capitol complex, including the building we gather in today, is not ours,'' Brewer said in her State of the State speech delivered in the House building. "So ... to make all of our Capitol truly ours once again, I'm asking that you send me a bill by Statehood Day that allows me to buy back the Capitol.''
Somebody needs to start looking at the connections of ALEC members and the private deals they do (including Kasich’s deal with ALEC member GEO Group) – there’s money being moved around at tax payer expense because of ALEC and we have to put a stop to this and we need to investigate it and if need be prosecute it.
ALEC MUST BE DESTROYED!
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