December 11, 2014 11:18 AM UTC

ALEC: Keeping Kevin Lundberg Relevant (Among Other Things)

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• by: Colorado Pols

David Weigel writes at Bloomberg Politics about an organization we've talked about quite a bit in this space, possessing a great deal of underreported influence in the Colorado General Assembly–the right wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which just concluded its annual meetings in Washington:

"I'm fairly satisfied with the oil and gas industry's treatment," said Colorado State Senator Kevin Lundberg. "When they're doing it for themselves, they do a good job."

It's December 5, and Lundberg is standing in the emptying ballroom of the Hyatt near Capitol Hill. The American Legislative Exchange Council's 2014 Washington summit, a post-election tradition, has just ended after a speech by former Secretary of Interior Gale Norton, who now runs an eponymous firm that helps businesses overcome "regulatory challenges." Lundberg, whose Republicans took back the state Senate in November's races, is telling me the story of how a drilling company once goofed on his family's  property — they put up two wells after fumbling the first one — then fixed it themselves. That contrasted with the ways national and local Democrats had tangled up businesses.

"One of the first things [former governor Bill] Ritter did was expand the oil and gas commission from nine to 13 members — oh, and by the way, he got to appoint the extra four — and regulation got tighter and tighter," recalled Lundberg.

The Coloradan, unsurprisingly, was very representative of ALEC membership's mood. The 2014 elections were very good to Republican state legislators, and to the party's state attorney general candidates…

The article goes on to discuss a host of new ALEC policy initiatives to "fight back" against regulation of the energy industry. As we've discussed before, ALEC has a highly influential role in policymaking in the Colorado legislature, a role set only to grow as longtime ALEC member and incoming Colorado Senate President Bill Cadman prepares to take over one chamber of the General Assembly next month. ALEC's friendlier climate in Colorado next year, as with so many states where Republicans made significant gains in this year's elections, comes despite the fact that the organization is hemorrhaging corporate sponsors after years of scandal. ALEC's role in controversial gun legislation caused a major exodus of corporate partners in 2012, and more recently the organization's stance against climate change has alienated major tech company members like Microsoft, Facebook, and Google.

Indeed, it seems the only place ALEC still wields much influence today is in Republican-controlled state legislatures across the nation. We can't speak for its role in other states, but in this state, ALEC has also been a haven for…there's no nice way to say this, some of the less effective members of the Colorado legislature–like Sen. Kevin "Crazypants" Lundberg, or former ALEC state co-chair Rep. Libby Szabo. Honestly, we've never been able to understand why ALEC doesn't get the kind of media attention in Colorado that it does in other states, especially as the organization's influence has become nationally scandalous.

But each new session is a fresh opportunity.