Color me absolutely unsurprised by this….
A lobbyist for Koch Industries and energy interests serves with a lobbyist for Pfizer pharmaceuticals as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) corporate co-chairs in Wisconsin, according to documents obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy at this year’s ALEC Annual Meeting. For some, their fundraising for “scholarships” to benefit ALEC legislative members raises issues of legislative ethics.
The Koch and Pfizer lobbyists are tasked with raising dollars to fund legislators’ trips to ALEC meetings, working alongside Wisconsin’s legislative state chair, Rep. Robin Vos. Wisconsin is a “no cuppa coffee state,” meaning that lobbyists cannot purchase ANY gift for a legislator, even a cup of coffee; free plane tickets and hotel rooms might look like a “gift,” but according to Jay Heck, Executive Director of Common Cause Wisconsin, “ALEC has succeeded in skirting Wisconsin’s no-gift lobby laws” by calling this spending a “scholarship.”
So let’s recap….
Amy Boyer, a lobbyist working for the right-wing Koch brothers, who have taken a keen interest in Wisconsin, is now the Wisconsin co-chair of ALEC, a right-wing group that’s been essentially providing Wisconsin’s Republican legislators with ready-made legislation for those legislators to implement in Wisconsin. What’s more, ALEC has started handing out “scholarships” to Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin, “scholarships” that enable those lawmakers to attend ALEC conferences and meetings around the country.
Yeah, what could possibly be wrong with that?
“Scholarships”? SERIOUSLY? Who enforces the no-gift lobby laws? Surely this behavior cannot be allowed to continue after it has been exposed.
You forgot Boyer’s role as Government Relations Directo at WEDA . The garanimal-esque mixing and matching between Koch Industries, WEDA and Boyer’s firm Hamilton Consulting is truly mindbending: http://www.politiscoop.com/component/content/article/35-last-24h-news/268-unraveling-walkers-chain-of-corruption-part-4.html
Something doesn’t pass the *sniff* test with Wisconsin’s ALEC reps. Take Robin Vos, who is the legislative ALCE “chair” in Wisconsin. He reported taking “reimbursement” of expenses from ALEC here: http://www.prwatch.org/files/Vos,%20Robin%202011.pdf
but, doesn’t say how much or how ALEC reimbursed him. Was is a black bag full of cash to help him try to protect his vulnerable seat when his term expires. The FBI ought to be following the money with respect to Mr. Vos.