Record Breaking Attendance in Orlando: August CEO Update

If you weren’t with us in Orlando for the 53rd Annual Meeting, you missed an incredible, record-breaking event! With more than 1,800 attendees in the Sunshine State, we easily smashed our previous attendance record!

Not only that, but we held discussions on the biggest issues facing our states today, including data centers, energy affordability, education freedom, election integrity, tax reform, and so much more. If you weren’t there, check out the video below to learn why ALEC’s Annual Meeting is THE best event of the summer.

At the Annual Meeting, we heard from:

• Dr. Bob McClure of the James Madison Institute and Former Speaker of the Florida House Steve Crisafulli on why the principles ALEC espouses—free markets, limited government, and federalism—have set Florida on the right track.
• Erika Donalds on the importance of education freedom to the future of the American dream.
• Hugh Hewitt on why ALEC’s work is important and how it can transform states. Hugh also hosted his show live from our meeting, and I was pleased to be his first guest from Orlando.

• Stephen Moore, Steve DelBianco, and Senator Paul Bettencourt on the data center race.
• Senator Phil Gramm on America’s economic growth and the challenges with government price controls.
• State Representative Jennifer Canady and Eva Moskowitz on the innovation education freedom brings.
• CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz on the Trump administration’s work to root our waste, fraud, and abuse in healthcare—and the critical work that ALEC’s Government Efficiency Task Force does across the states.
• Taiwanese Ambassador Alexander Yui Tah-ray on the ever-strengthening American-Taiwan ties and ALEC’s longstanding support of Taiwan.
• Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt on energy independence and its implications for national security, economic strength, and quality-of-life.
• Mark Weatherford of NVIDIA on the growth of artificial intelligence.

While there, we also honored White House Chief of Staff and Florida native Susie Wiles as this year’s Iron Lady Award recipient. Susie is the first woman to hold that position and now President Trump’s longest serving Chief of Staff. We were honored to have Susie make virtual remarks where she praised ALEC’s role and discussed the critical work being done in the Trump administration.

Susie joins the company of incredible women such as Senator Ashley Moody and Congresswoman Victoria Spartz. What makes Susie so inspiring is her refusal to quit—despite her recent cancer diagnosis, she continues to carry out her duties in one of the toughest jobs in the world!

Being with such incredible people over nearly three days always inspires me and reminds me of why ALEC’s work across all 50 states is so important. I cannot thank our National Chairwoman and Florida State Representative Demi Bussata and our Florida members enough for being such amazing hosts. I’m already excited about the States and Nation Policy Summit, taking place December 9-11 in Washington, D.C. Mark your calendars now and make plans to attend!

The discussions we had in Orlando are timely as we consider what’s happening across the country even now. For instance, our pro-school choice allies in Arizona, ranked second in the nation in our latest Index of State Education Freedom, are fighting tooth-and-nail to defend the state’s education freedom scholarship program. Teachers’ unions and their partners recently submitted enough signatures to place an initiative on the fall ballot to gut Arizona’s education freedom program, pending certification by the Secretary of State. And this isn’t the only place that left-wing groups are trying to take school choice from families—in Arkansas, groups tried (and failed!) for a second time to gut that state’s transformational program. The lesson is clear—these groups will stop at nothing to prevent families from making the best educational choice for their children.

There was also plenty of discussion in our Policies and Procedures Task Force on election integrity, which President Trump addressed in a speech to the nation recently. By revealing China’s attempts to influence America’s elections and the intelligence community’s refusal to disclose these attempts to the President, he made a clear case for strengthening both our election integrity laws and our resistance to foreign influence in so many aspects of American life. ALEC has led the charge in both areas, from model policies like the Valid Voter Identification Act to our Statement of Principles Relating to the People’s Republic of China. We will continue to fight for the security of our most sacred right, the right to safe and accurate elections, and against the influence of America’s enemies here at home.

However, without question, the biggest topic of discussion at this year’s meeting was data centers and AI. While Governor Kathy Hochul of New York was bowing to the most radical elements of her party and placing a moratorium on data centers in her state, President Trump was working with 23 governors in expanding the Ratepayer Protection Pledge. This pledge will ensure that data center companies will pay for power expansion while investing in local workforce development. While China is helping to fund opposition to the critical expansion of data centers here in the U.S., President Trump and local leaders know that we must win the AI race—and are working hard to ensure America leads the world in this important advancement.

We were honored to have John Solomon with us in Orlando. While there, he filmed an episode of Just the News where he discussed this critical issue. Check it out below:

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As we build on the momentum from Orlando, one thing is clear: the challenges facing our states are also opportunities for leadership. Whether defending education freedom, strengthening election integrity, advancing AI policy, or expanding economic opportunity, ALEC will continue equipping state leaders with the ideas and policies they need to keep America strong.

See you in the states!