ALEC Member "American Chemistry Council" Drops $649K on Wisconsin U.S. Senate Race

The chemical industry trade group American Chemistry Council, a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), has spent $648,600 on ads supporting Tommy Thompson, a former ALEC member and the Republican candidate for Wisconsin's open U.S. Senate seat.

The generic ads tell viewers Thompson will expand domestic energy production, support small business, and cut spending and red tape. “Tommy Thompson, the experience we need in Washington, a senator who’ll work for Wisconsin,” the ad says.

The ads appear to be the first reported expenditures from the chemical trade association in 2012, spending made possible by the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC. That decision opened the door to corporations -- including nonprofit 501(c)(6) corporations like ACC -- to use funds from their general treasury to pay for political ads. Some of ACC's spending since 2010 has gone to benefit politicians who have proven their pro-corporate credentials through membership in ALEC.

ACC has long been a "private sector" member of ALEC, the corporate bill mill that brings businesses together with state legislators to approve model legislation behind closed doors. ACC has had lobbyist representatives on the ALEC Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force in recent years, and was a "Director" level sponsor of ALEC's December 2011 States & Nation Policy Summit, which cost $10,000 in 2010.

Why is ACC at ALEC? It is hoping to stave off the growing demand for chemical safety both at the state and federal level. At that December 2011 meeting, representatives of the ACC presented a resolution in support of "modernizing" the federal Toxic Substances Control Act, a 1976 law aimed at regulating newer chemicals used in consumer products. However, recent efforts in the U.S. Congress to improve the Act and address the hazards of older chemicals on the market have stalled in the House, largely due to opposition from the chemical industry. Similarly the chemical industry has fought state-level efforts to fill some of the gaps left by the federal law. At least 18 states have moved to restrict chemicals of concern in the absence of federal action. The ACC/ALEC Resolution would not only call for the EPA to rely on industry-funded studies -- the ACC has come up with its own studies, for example, to show that plastic additive bisphenol A (BPA) is safe, despite independent studies suggesting BPA poses health risks, especially to children -- but also prohibit states from passing more stringent chemical regulations that go beyond those in the Toxic Substances Control Act, an incredible position for an organization like ALEC that purports to support "state's rights" and federalism.

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/09/11739/alec-member-american-chemistry-council-drops-649k-wisconsin-us-senate-race