On August 7, thousands of state legislators and corporate lobbyists were scheduled to descend on Orlando, Florida, for the annual meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. There, they could play golf, listen to speeches by Secretary of Education Rod Paige and Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, and attend the Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award Banquet, raising a glass to limited government. Those able to resist the lure of Epcot and Gatorland could also attend sessions on “free market” reforms designed to minimize government’s role in health care and curb lawsuits by consumers. And all the while, state representatives and business lobbyists would engage in what ALEC calls an “exchange of ideas” about public policy.

Though it calls itself “the nation’s largest bipartisan, individual membership association of state legislators,” ALEC might better be described as one of the nation’s most powerful—and least known—corporate lobbies. While other lobbyists focus on the federal government, ALEC gives business a direct hand in writing bills that are considered in state assemblies nationwide. Funded primarily by large corporations, industry groups, and conservative foundations—including R.J. Reynolds, Koch Industries, and the American Petroleum Institute—the group takes a chain-restaurant approach to public policy, supplying precooked McBills to state lawmakers. Since most legislators are in session only part of the year and often have no staff to do independent research, they’re quick to swallow what ALEC serves up. In 2000, according to the council, members introduced more than 3,100 bills based on its models, passing 450 into law.

Indeed, lawmakers sometimes have no idea that they are voting on bills that have been drafted by industry.

In a report issued earlier this year, Defenders of Wildlife and the Natural Resources Defense Council denounced ALEC as a vehicle for corporations to buy access to state legislatures—often with a little help from taxpayers, who in many states foot the travel bill for legislators who attend ALEC meetings. The report found that the group’s corporate donors—some of whom pay membership dues of $50,000 a year—have included Philip Morris, Amoco, Chevron, Enron, and the American Energy Institute. ALEC enjoys what it calls an “impressive presence” among the leadership of state legislatures, with a membership that includes speakers, presidents, and majority and minority leaders in 22 senates and 30 houses. The group’s alumni also include nine governors and more than 80 members of Congress, among them House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Whip Tom DeLay. The council wasn’t always so dominated by business interests. Founded in 1973 by conservative activist Paul Weyrich and a handful of state legislators, ALEC initially positioned itself as a counterweight to liberal foundations and think tanks, focusing on social issues like abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment. It wasn’t until the late 1980s that ALEC shifted its emphasis to drawing up bills that benefit industry. Now the group seeks to “espouse Jeffersonian, free-market principles in the process of formulating innovative policy ideas and solutions,” says ALEC spokesman Joseph Rinzel.