By Tom Sgouros in
RIFuture.org
Last year, there was a
lot of talk here about ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council.
This corporate-backed “research” group produces model legislation for the
states and recruits and promotes legislators who are likely to introduce it.
It’s a pretty slick outfit, well-funded, with lots of opportunities for
travel, and lots of opportunities to make member legislators feel good about
carrying the water of large corporations.
Soon-to-be-ex-Representative
Jon Brien from Woonsocket was on the board of directors, and it turned out that
quite a number of state representatives and senators were members – one out of
every five. ALEC’s policy agenda is pretty much the standard-issue corporate
pabulum: lower taxes, cut spending so we can all live in a capitalist paradise.
That sort of thing. If you’re reading here, you probably know the
drill.
Not so great, it turns out. In fact, ALEC issues
a ranking of how well states conform to its vision of all that is great and
good, and it turns out that the states who do best in ALEC’s rankings have seen lower economic growth, more poverty, and lower state
revenues over the years 2007-2011.
So the lesson is
clear: ALEC’s advice is pretty much the opposite of good advice.
Following their suggestions for economic growth seems to be an ideal way
to lower median family income, lose jobs, and increase the poverty rate.
In other words, the policies
that make up the Economic Outlook Ranking are not a recipe for growth and
prosperity. If anything, they are quite the opposite: They are a recipe
for economic inequality, low wages, and stagnant incomes that at the same
time deprive state and local governments of the revenue needed to maintain the
public infrastructure and education systems that are the underpinnings of
long term economic growth
Lots of the figures
from the report are here.
So where does Rhode
Island fall on the ALEC scale? According to the “Rich
State, Poor State” report, we’re 43d in ALEC’s rankings. So
how do we make our economy better? Probably not by trying to move up in
their ranking. ALEC’s advice is bad advice.
Tom Sgouros
is a freelance engineer, policy
analyst, and writer. Reach him atripr@whatcheer.net. Buy his book,
"Ten Things You Don't Know About Rhode Island" at whatcheer.net