New ALEC Model Policies from the 53rd Annual Meeting
Last month, ALEC hosted its 53rd Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL, bringing together more than 1,800 attendees, including more than 400 state lawmakers from nearly all 50 states.
Catch up on the highlights from our Annual Meeting in Orlando by watching this short recap video: There’s No Better Place to Be Than an ALEC Meeting
Throughout the meeting, attendees heard from an impressive lineup of speakers, including CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz on President Trump’s work to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in healthcare; Dr. Bob McClure of the James Madison Institute and Former Speaker of the Florida House Steve Crisafulli on why the ALEC principles of 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; Stephen Moore, Steve DelBianco, and Senator Paul Bettencourt on the data center race; the Honorable Phil Gramm on America’s economic growth and the challenges with government price controls; 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; and 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. Wiles is now President Donald Trump’s longest-serving Chief of Staff and is the first woman to hold the position. We were honored to have Wiles deliver virtual remarks in which she discussed the critical work underway in the Trump administration.
In addition to keynote addresses and panel discussions, participants engaged in a wide range of educational workshops and roundtables focused on some of the most pressing issues facing states today. Topics included the growing debate surrounding data center development and infrastructure demands, strengthening energy production and grid reliability, expanding educational freedom and opportunity, reducing government spending and increasing budget transparency, and addressing other critical policy challenges confronting state governments across the country.
Building on the significant progress made since ALEC’s States & Nation Policy Summit last December, the energy throughout the meeting was unmistakable. Conversations were robust and forward-looking, fostering thoughtful collaboration among lawmakers, policy experts, and private-sector leaders. The result was a highly successful Annual Meeting marked by substantive policy discussions and the adoption of meaningful model policies across ALEC’s task forces.
In total, 74 model policies were approved at the 2026 Annual Meeting, adding to ALEC’s library of more than 1,000 trusted policy solutions. These policies, recently finalized by the ALEC Board of Directors, are listed and summarized below. The slate includes 61 new ALEC model policies, 10 policy renewals, and three amendments to existing model policies.
American City County Exchange: 8 (3 New Model Policies; 5 Renewals)
Summary: The Safe Neighborhoods Act offers safeguards to property owners or those leasing a property in the event a municipal or county government chooses to ignore or not enforce ordinances that prohibit acts such as unregulated camping, obstructing public thoroughfares, loitering, panhandling, shoplifting, and other listed acts enunciated in law. It allows a means of recourse.
Home-Based Business Fairness Act
Summary: This model act establishes that operating a home-based business is a permitted residential use, completely exempting “no-impact” businesses from prior regulatory approvals, licenses, or commercial rezoning mandates. While it respects private HOA covenants and deed restrictions, the policy permits municipalities to enforce narrow, reasonable regulations strictly to protect public health, ensure neighborhood compatibility, and prohibit adult or illegal business activities. Furthermore, it explicitly defines “no-impact” operations based on invisible street profiles, strict client limits within municipal occupancy codes, and zero disruptions to local traffic or parking.
An Ordinance to Address Use of Tax Dollars for Special Purposes
Summary: This draft municipal ordinance prohibits spending public funds on special-interest projects that primarily benefit private, political, or advocacy organizations rather than the general public. To enforce this, it mandates that municipal authorities issue and publicly archive a written “Public Purpose Certification” for discretionary expenditures above a specified dollar threshold. While it includes standard exemptions for competitive contracts, state or federal mandates, emergency funding, and universal public programs, it enforces compliance through public website disclosures and by granting resident taxpayers legal standing to sue for injunctive relief.
ACCE Principles of Taxation (Renewal)
Summary: The proper function of taxation is to raise money for core functions of government, not to direct the behavior of citizens or close budget gaps created by overspending. This is true regardless of whether government is big or small, and this is true for lawmakers at all levels of government. Taxation will always impose some level of burden on an economy’s performance, but that harm can be minimized if policymakers resist the temptation to use the tax code for social engineering, class warfare, and other extraneous purposes. A principled tax system is an ideal way for advancing a local government’s economic interests and promoting prosperity for its residents. The goal of local tax policy should be to raise revenue for functions of government in a way that minimizes distortions, so as to grow the overall economy and facilitate commerce.
An Ordinance to Repeal Personal Property Tax Collection (Renewal)
Summary: Personal property taxes are collected in perpetuity, which prevents ownership of personal property. Personal property taxes are typically levied on items such as boats, cars, trailers, motorcycles, etc. Local governments are most often given the power to tax personal property or abstain. This ordinance empowers local governments that have personal property taxes to repeal them and encourage personal property ownership.
Proclamation Recognizing Tax Freedom Day (Renewal)
Summary: This Mayoral proclamation recognizes Tax Freedom Day, which represents how long Americans as a whole have to work in order to pay the nation’s tax burden to local, state, and federal governments. This proclamation raises awareness of the burden taxpayers carry and encourages citizens to contact their elected officials to seek tax relief.
A Local Resolution in Support of State Minimum Wage Law (Renewal)
Summary: Minimum wage laws have been a matter of great debate in our nation. Most scholars on federalism would agree that if a minimum wage was necessary, it would be the responsibility of the states to enact such a law. This resolution upholds the belief that local governments do not have the authority to set a minimum wage for their citizens and, if necessary, should be managed by the state.
A Resolution to Establish a Local Taxpayer Bill of Rights (Renewal)
Summary: The Local Taxpayer Bill of Rights (LTABOR) gives local government officials a tool to side with taxpayers. With LTABOR, taxpayers can rest assured their elected officials will be held accountable for any proposed tax increase with additional public input and transparency.
Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development: 9 (8 New Models; 1 Amendment to an Existing Model Policy)
Summary: This policy states that refined gold and silver bullion, specie, or coins shall be considered legal tender.
Model Act Relating to Wakeboarding and Wakesurfing Safety on Public Waterways
Summary: This Act establishes safety standards for wakeboarding and wakesurfing on public waterways.
Military Crosswalk Act – dually referred with Veterans and Military Affairs
Summary: The Military Crosswalk Act directs the state occupational licensing division, in consultation with the state department of veterans and military affairs, to prepare a publicly available resource that details when military training, education, credentials, skills, or experience are substantially equivalent to civilian occupational licensing requirements. The Act also directs the division to grant appropriate credit to veterans and servicemembers who apply for an occupational license and report outcomes and recommendations back to the relevant legislative committee.
Prohibition on Local Ordinances Restricting Co-Ownership Models Act
Summary: This model policy affirms private property owners’ rights by prohibiting county and local governments from enacting laws that regulate co-owned homes differently from other residential properties.
Amendments to E-Verify Requirement Act – dually referred with Federalism, Homeland Security and International Relations
Summary: This policy establishes employment eligibility standards, requiring employers to verify the employment eligibility of new hires through E-Verify. It also empowers state Attorneys General to enforce compliance with this requirement and provides civil protections for employers acting in good faith.
Summary: This policy ensures economic development incentives remain focused on job creation, investment, and statewide economic growth rather than becoming vehicles for special-interest concessions. It makes employers ineligible for economic development incentives if they enter into community benefits agreements tied to an incentivized project. It preserves ordinary commercial contracts and unrelated business operations, applies only prospectively to incentives valued at $250,000 or more, and gives the state agency or attorney general authority to investigate suspected violations and recover the full value of incentives if an employer violates the eligibility condition.
Summary: The Golden Girls Act protects the right of individuals to control their household. It affirms the right of property owners to make peaceful and productive use of their property. Many Americans have and need roommates, particularly as housing costs rise and availability doesn’t keep up. One way states can protect property rights and address the housing crisis is by ensuring roommate occupancy limits are designed to protect health and safety—and don’t arbitrarily ban unrelated roommates. From first-time homebuyers who need help with the mortgage to elderly individuals who need assistance at home, having roommates is not just beneficial; it can be essential. This act protects property rights by ensuring that government does not restrict occupancy beyond demonstrably necessary and narrowly tailored legitimate health and safety standards.
Educational Facilities Freedom Act – dually referred with Education and Workforce Development
Summary: Local governments often prevent private or charter schools from buying or renting vacant school buildings, harming students by limiting their access to education. This model policy addresses this problem by prohibiting local governments from adopting ordinances or imposing deed restrictions that prevent private or charter schools from buying or renting vacant school buildings from a local government. If a local government violates the terms of this policy, a private or charter school may file a lawsuit to compel compliance and may recover court costs and attorney fees if successful.
Legislative Approval of Administrative Rules Act – dually referred with Process and Procedures
Summary: The Legislature possesses the exclusive constitutional authority to enact law. While legislatures may delegate limited authority to executive agencies to administer statutory programs, the increasing scope and complexity of administrative regulation has resulted in agencies exercising substantial quasi-legislative authority affecting private rights, economic activity, licensure, property interests, and public obligations. In many jurisdictions, administrative rules adopted by agencies acquire the force and effect of law without affirmative legislative approval. This approach risks diminishing democratic accountability and weakening the constitutional separation of powers. The Legislative Approval of Administrative Rules Act establishes a framework for appropriate legislative oversight and approval of agency rulemaking while preserving agency expertise and administrative flexibility.
Communications and Technology: 4 (4 New Models)
Combatting Internet Crimes Against Children Act – dually referred with Federalism, Homeland Security and International Relations
Summary: This model policy addresses children’s online safety by establishing a State Internet Crimes Against Children Grant Program. First developed in 1998 by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program is a multinational and multijurisdictional network of 61 ICAC task forces with the mission to develop an effective response to technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and internet crimes against children. In FY 2024, ICAC task forces helped conduct over 200,000 investigations leading to the arrest of more than 12,600 offenders. The State ICAC Grant Program established in this model policy ensures state and local law enforcement have access to adequate resources—including personnel, overtime pay, forensic and investigative training, and technology—to protect children from exploitation and hold criminals accountable.
Artificial Intelligence Mental Health Transparency and Accountability Act – dually referred with Health and Human Services
Summary: This model policy establishes a targeted, evidence-based framework regarding the use of AI in the mental health space, including a transparency requirement, a clear liability standard, and the protection of personal data and individually identifiable health information. The policy also establishes a voluntary safe harbor that rewards responsible development practices. Instead of excessive or premature regulation of AI risks, the appropriate role of government is to ensure consumers have the information necessary to make informed choices, hold bad actors accountable for misconduct, and encourage market outcomes over prescriptive mandates.
Digital Infrastructure & Ratepayer Accord – dually referred with Energy, Environment and Agriculture
Summary: Data centers are the physical foundation of the twenty-first-century economy. They are the layer on which digital services, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, financial services, telemedicine, e-commerce, and remote work are built. Every search query, streamed video, financial transaction, medical record, and AI-generated insight depends on data centers functioning reliably and at scale. This infrastructure deserves the same policy attention that prior generations of legislators gave to roads, bridges, telephone networks, and broadband — the foundational infrastructure that enabled broad economic participation and national competitiveness. The United States currently leads the world in data center capacity, and that leadership is an economic and strategic asset. Maintaining it requires a policy framework rooted in free markets, limited government, federalism, individual liberty, and a pro-growth, abundance mindset. The default policy posture must be one that enables this infrastructure to grow. Outright bans or moratoria on data center development are inconsistent with the recognition of data centers as critical technology infrastructure and are contrary to the principles of this statement. At the same time, sound policy must ensure that the enormous electric load created by large data centers is not financed on the backs of residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial ratepayers. A genuinely pro-abundance framework pairs a welcoming environment for private investment with clear rules ensuring that those who cause costs bear them. These principles are offered to guide legislators, regulators, and community leaders toward both objectives.
Guaranteeing Rights Against Novel International Tyranny and Extortion – Defensive Provisions (GRANITE) Act – Foreign Censorship Shield – dually referred with Federalism, Homeland Security and International Relations
Summary: The GRANITE Act (Guaranteeing Rights Against Novel International Tyranny and Extortion) is a foreign censorship shield law. It prohibits state courts from recognizing, enforcing, or cooperating with any foreign judgment, order, or demand that seeks to penalize speech protected under the U.S. and this state’s Constitutions. This defensive measure blocks foreign states and international organizations from using extraterritorial censorship laws to chill the free speech, association, and innovation of our residents and businesses.
Education and Workforce Development: 11 (11 New Models)
529 Education Freedom for States Act – dually referred with Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force
Summary: 529 education savings plans are tax-advantaged accounts that help families save for education expenses. Established under Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, these plans were originally designed to support postsecondary education costs but have since been expanded by Congress to include K-12 tuition, apprenticeship programs, and other qualified educational expenses. As the permissible uses of 529 plans have broadened, they have become increasingly important vehicles for education freedom. This 529 Education Freedom for States Act aligns state tax treatment of 529 plans with federal law by adopting automatic conformity to Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended. The Act ensures that withdrawals treated as qualified under federal law are also treated as qualified for state tax purposes, preventing families from facing state tax penalties on federally authorized education expenses. The model policy strengthens taxpayer protections by limiting administrative interpretations that conflict with state statute, expands state tax incentives for 529 savings, permits equal tax treatment for contributions to out-of-state 529 plans, encourages employer matching contributions into 529 plans, and allows coordination between 529 plans and state education savings account (ESA) programs.
Purple Star School Act – dually referred with Veterans and Military Affairs
Summary: The Purple Star School Act establishes a statewide program to support military-connected students as they transition between schools. It requires eligible public schools to designate military family education facilitators, provide staff training, maintain military family resources online, create student peer ambassador programs, recognize military families, and coordinate with military commands to identify and support military-connected students. The Act also directs the state military children council and education department to develop, administer, review, and update program standards, training, recognition, and implementation requirements.
Mathematics Screening, Evaluations, and Interventions Act
Summary: This model policy requires public schools to screen all K-2 students three times per year using state-approved, valid, reliable math assessments aligned to state standards and the four strands of math proficiency. Schools must share results with educators and parents within 15 days, use the data to guide instruction, and identify students at risk of falling behind. For K-8 students flagged by screeners or statewide assessments, schools must provide evidence-based math interventions with ongoing progress monitoring and instruction adjusted to student needs.
Religious Literature and Its Impact Act
Summary: The purpose of this Act is to ensure that students may engage, in an objective and academically rigorous manner, with these texts’ historical and literary impact as part of the public-school curriculum.
Foreign Influence Operations Out of American Education Act – dually referred with Federalism, Homeland Security and International Relations
Summary: This model policy is meant to prohibit educational institutions that receive public funding from accepting gifts, grants, contracts, research sponsorships, partnerships, or other funding relationships from foreign adversaries and countries involved in foreign influence operations. A bill relating to prohibiting educational institutions that receive public funding from accepting gifts, grants, contracts, research sponsorships, partnerships, or other funding relationships from foreign adversaries and countries involved in foreign influence operations; providing legislative findings; defining terms; establishing reporting and enforcement mechanisms; authorizing additional adversary designations; and setting a reasonable effective date.
The Informed American Patriotism Act
Summary: The purpose of this Act is to ensure students receive robust, primary-source-based instruction in American history and civics; understand the rights and duties of citizens; and appreciate the ideals that unite Americans across differences.
State Open Education Resource and Instructional Transparency Act
Summary: This Act authorizes a state education agency to develop and maintain high-quality open educational resources aligned to state academic standards. Such resources must be publicly accessible at no cost to students, parents, teachers, and local education agencies. This Act promotes instructional transparency, expands access to academically rigorous materials, supports civic education, and preserves local control over curriculum and instructional decisions.
Middle School Advanced Math Course Requirements Act
Summary: This model policy requires public school districts to expand access to advanced middle school math by offering Algebra I or Integrated Math I to all middle school students, with completion of the course required no later than 9th grade. The model also requires that middle school students be automatically enrolled in an advanced math course if they score proficient/grade level on their state math assessment. Parents of a student who is automatically enrolled in an advanced math course must be notified and given the ability to opt out of such instruction. Similarly, parents of a student who does not qualify for automatic enrollment can still choose to opt their student into a middle school advanced math course.
Personal Finance Flexibility Act
Summary: This model policy gives school districts flexibility in how they satisfy a personal finance graduation requirement, allowing students to complete either a half-credit standalone personal finance course or a one-credit integrated course that embeds personal finance into subjects like business, economics, math, CTE, or family and consumer sciences. Required content includes earning income, budgeting, saving, investing, managing credit and debt, and risk management, including insurance.
Educational Facilities Freedom Act – dually referred with Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development
Summary: Local governments often prevent private or charter schools from buying or renting vacant school buildings, harming students by limiting their access to education. This model policy addresses this problem by prohibiting local governments from adopting ordinances or imposing deed restrictions that prevent private or charter schools from buying or renting vacant school buildings from a local government. If a local government violates the terms of this policy, a private or charter school may file a lawsuit to compel compliance and may recover court costs and attorney fees if successful.
Suicide Prevention in Higher Education Resolution (Renewal) – dually referred with Health and Human Services
Summary: This Resolution encourages each state institution of higher education to develop and implement a policy to advise students and staff on suicide prevention programs available on and off campus. The {insert state} Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is also required to post free suicide prevention materials and program information on its websites, and provide incoming students with information about mental health topics, including local suicide prevention and depression resources.
Energy, Environment and Agriculture: 7 (6 New Models; 1 Amendment to an Existing Model Policy)
Digital Infrastructure & Ratepayer and Resource Protection Accord – dually referred with Communications and Technology
Summary: Data centers are the physical foundation of the twenty-first-century economy. They are the layer on which digital services, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, financial services, telemedicine, e-commerce, and remote work are built. Every search query, streamed video, financial transaction, medical record, and AI-generated insight depends on data centers functioning reliably and at scale. This infrastructure deserves the same policy attention that prior generations of legislators gave to roads, bridges, telephone networks, and broadband — the foundational infrastructure that enabled broad economic participation and national competitiveness. The United States currently leads the world in data center capacity, and that leadership is an economic and strategic asset. Maintaining it requires a policy framework rooted in free markets, limited government, federalism, individual liberty, and a pro-growth, abundance mindset. The default policy posture must be one that enables this infrastructure to grow. Outright bans or moratoria on data center development are inconsistent with the recognition of data centers as critical technology infrastructure and are contrary to the principles of this statement. At the same time, sound policy must ensure that the enormous electric load created by large data centers is not financed on the backs of residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial ratepayers. A genuinely pro-abundance framework pairs a welcoming environment for private investment with clear rules ensuring that those who cause costs bear them. These principles are offered to guide legislators, regulators, and community leaders toward both objectives.
The Local Government Net Zero Policy Prohibition Act
Summary: This model policy prohibits local governmental entities — including counties, municipalities, school districts, special districts, public universities, and all other political subdivisions — from adopting, funding, or enforcing net-zero greenhouse gas emission policies. It employs two complementary enforcement mechanisms: (1) a direct statutory prohibition applicable in states where the legislature has constitutional authority to preempt local government action, and (2) a state funding condition mechanism that reduces or withholds state shared revenues and grants from local governments that violate the prohibition, which provides an effective tool in states with strong constitutional home rule protections.
The Energy Producers and Consumers Protection Act
Summary: This model policy establishes comprehensive protections against climate change liability litigation, including civil lawsuits, nuisance claims, climate superfund actions, and related criminal proceedings, brought against individuals, businesses, and industries in connection with their lawful greenhouse gas emissions. The policy provides broad legal certainty by limiting liability for activities conducted in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, while establishing safeguards such as an affirmative right to engage in lawful energy production and use, a zero-dollar liability floor, an annual emissions baseline defense, and a declaratory record mechanism. The framework is designed to protect economic activity, energy development, and lawful commerce from retrospective or duplicative climate-related claims.
Regional Utility Coordination and Accountability Act
Summary: This policy empowers public entities to form public utility agencies to jointly plan, finance, construct, and operate water and sewer facilities, while preserving local accountability through rate appeal rights and Public Utility Commission oversight. It expands financing tools available to these agencies, including bond issuance and partnerships with entities such as the North American Development Bank. It also establishes a receivership and temporary management framework allowing public utility agencies to step in when a utility has abandoned operations or violated regulatory orders, prioritizing regionalization as a practical solution for restoring service.
Summary: This model policy aligns state water regulations with the U.S. Supreme Court’s limit on federal jurisdiction as defined by Sackett v. EPA.
Amendments to Statement of Principles on Agriculture
Summary: The ALEC Agriculture Principles outline a framework for agricultural policy that emphasizes free markets, reduced regulatory burdens, science-based decision-making, and expanded opportunities for agricultural commerce. The principles support policies that strengthen agricultural productivity, protect private property rights, encourage innovation and high-yield farming, and empower states and private landowners to address agricultural and environmental challenges. They also advocate for right-to-farm protections, responsible animal welfare practices, and limiting government intervention that could hinder the competitiveness of American agriculture.
Critical Infrastructure Security Act – dually referred with Judiciary
Summary: The Critical Infrastructure Protection and Security Act strengthens protections for essential infrastructure by creating criminal penalties for unauthorized entry, drone intrusions, cyberattacks, theft, vandalism, sabotage, and other actions that threaten critical facilities and services. The legislation establishes enhanced penalties for conduct that endangers human life, disrupts essential services, causes significant economic harm, or is carried out with terrorist intent, while also providing civil remedies and restitution for damages. The act is designed to safeguard energy, water, communications, transportation, healthcare, food supply, and other vital infrastructure while preserving protections for lawful protest, journalism, labor activity, and other constitutionally protected conduct.
Federalism, Homeland Security, and International Relations: 8 (7 New Models; 1 Amendment to an Existing Model Policy)
Summary: This Joint Declaration of Intent (“JDI”) is made by and between the Government of Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany and this state (“this state”), (collectively, the “Participants” and each a “Participant”) in order to facilitate a robust and healthy partnership in international trade and cooperation in the promotion of investment, innovation and research.
Guaranteeing Rights against Novel International Tyranny and Extortion – GRANITE Act Defensive Provisions – Foreign Censorship Shield – dually referred with Communications and Technology
Summary: The GRANITE Act (Guaranteeing Rights Against Novel International Tyranny and Extortion) is a foreign censorship shield law. It prohibits state courts from recognizing, enforcing, or cooperating with any foreign judgment, order, or demand that seeks to penalize speech protected under the U.S. and this state’s Constitutions. This defensive measure blocks foreign states and international organizations from using extraterritorial censorship laws to chill the free speech, association, and innovation of our residents and businesses.
Combatting Internet Crimes against Children Act – dual referred with Communications and Technology
Summary: This model policy addresses children’s online safety by establishing a State Internet Crimes Against Children Grant Program. First developed in 1998 by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program is a multinational and multijurisdictional network of 61 ICAC task forces with the mission to develop an effective response to technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and internet crimes against children. In FY 2024, ICAC task forces helped conduct over 200,000 investigations leading to the arrest of more than 12,600 offenders. The State ICAC Grant Program established in this model policy ensures state and local law enforcement have access to adequate resources—including personnel, overtime pay, forensic and investigative training, and technology—to protect children from exploitation and hold criminals accountable.
Foreign Influence Operations Out of American Education Act – dual referred with Education and Workforce Development
Summary: This model policy is meant to prohibit educational institutions that receive public funding from accepting gifts, grants, contracts, research sponsorships, partnerships, or other funding relationships from foreign adversaries and countries involved in foreign influence operations. A bill relating to prohibiting educational institutions that receive public funding from accepting gifts, grants, contracts, research sponsorships, partnerships, or other funding relationships from foreign adversaries and countries involved in foreign influence operations; providing legislative findings; defining terms; establishing reporting and enforcement mechanisms; authorizing additional adversary designations; and setting a reasonable effective date.
Amendments to E-Verify Requirement Act – dually referred Commerce Insurance & Economic Development
Summary: This policy establishes employment eligibility standards, requiring employers to verify the employment eligibility of new hires through E-Verify. It also empowers state Attorneys General to enforce compliance with this requirement and provides civil protections for employers acting in good faith.
Summary: Taiwan is one of the United States’ most important economic and strategic partners in East Asia, and the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and Six Assurances serve as cornerstones of the strong bilateral strategic relationship and are vital to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. This model policy reaffirms the enduring importance of these principles, strengthens America’s commitment to the Six Assurances; opposes unilateral changes to the status quo, and underscores why these principles should continue to guide U.S. policy toward Taiwan and engagement with the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Resolution Calling for an Active Defense of the Electoral College in Opposition to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact – dually referred with Process and Procedures
Summary: The Electoral College respects and protects states in our federal republic. It is threatened by the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would manipulate the Electoral College by commingling votes across state lines and forcing the result to correspond with the national popular vote outcome. This would be a radical change, adopting a system rejected by the American Founders. This resolution asserts that the state will consider litigation and legislative options to oppose the Compact should it ever take effect.
Federal Funds Stress Test Act – dually referred with Tax and Fiscal Policy
Summary: This model policy directs the relevant legislative fiscal staff (here called “Legislative Fiscal Analyst”) to conduct budget stress tests and submit to a Federalism Commission or other appropriate body the results that relate to federal funds. That body is to make recommendations regarding those federal funds portions of the budge stress tests. It requires a center at a state institution of higher learning to create and maintain a publicly available dashboard that visualizes state dependency on federal funds and model economic scenarios to inform federal funds contingency planning.
Health and Human Services: 13 (8 New Models, 5 Renewals)
Direct Health Care Provider Referral Protection Act
Summary: Patients who choose direct health care, also known as direct primary care (DPC), pay a monthly membership fee directly to their physician for comprehensive primary care services, bypassing traditional insurance billing for those services. However, when these patients need specialist care, imaging, labs, or other covered services, insurers may deny payment or impose higher cost-sharing solely because the referral originates from an out-of-network direct health care provider. As a result, insured patients can face full out-of-pocket costs for services their plan would otherwise cover, effectively penalizing them for choosing a more affordable, patient-centered primary care model. This targeted protection removes a major barrier to DPC adoption, expands patient choice, lowers overall costs, reduces administrative burden, and improves access to high-quality primary care, without requiring carriers to credential or reimburse the direct care provider.
Statement of Principles on Healthcare Price Transparency
Summary: Healthcare price transparency is the single most popular healthcare reform among American voters, and for good reason: underlying price increases have driven the majority of healthcare spending growth for decades, driving premium increases that strain household budgets and put small businesses at a competitive disadvantage. This statement outlines governing principles for advancing healthcare price transparency through state policy by ensuring patients have access to real pricing information, are rewarded for making cost-effective decisions, and are protected from anti-competitive practices that keep prices artificially high, restoring meaningful choice to patients and employers.
The American Peptide Access Act
Summary: In recent years, peptides have surged in popularity among patients and clinicians seeking targeted therapies for wellness, recovery, and longevity. This proposed model bill provides regulatory certainty for healthcare providers, pharmacists, and state-licensed compounding pharmacies who are lawfully prescribing, compounding, and dispensing peptides, establishing a state-level safeguard that reinforces the FDA’s ongoing effort to formally clarify the legal status of these compounds. This bill ensures that clinicians and patients have access to peptides that are compounded and dispensed in the United States by licensed pharmacists, providing enhanced accountability and protecting patients from the quality and sterility risks posed by unregulated, grey market overseas suppliers.
Adoption as a Third Option Act
Summary: AN ACT to promote adoption as a positive Third Option for women facing unplanned, unwanted pregnancies; to improve and expand birth mother support services and resources; to require adoption education and fetal development instruction; to improve safe haven placement; to prohibit unlicensed adoption placement activity; to provide for court-approved birth mother support; to enumerate birth mother rights; to provide for enforceable post-adoption contact agreements; and for other purposes.
Foster Youth Earned Benefits Protection for Success Act
Summary: Under federal law, youth in foster care due to their parent’s death are eligible for Social Security survivor benefits, which represent the contribution their parents made to Social Security through their income. For years, state child welfare agencies have used the monthly payments intended for individual foster youth to reimburse their general operating budgets. This model policy prohibits that practice and ensures that the benefits earned by the parents of foster children are preserved for those youth and not used to balance state budgets.
A Home for Every Child Resolution
Summary: Establishing Legislative Priorities to Advance “A Home for Every Child” through modernized foster care licensing, strengthened kinship placement, and closed-loop prevention nfrastructure.
Artificial Intelligence Mental Health Transparency and Accountability Act – dually referred with Communications and Technology
Summary: This model policy establishes a targeted, evidence-based framework regarding the use of AI in the mental health space, including a transparency requirement, a clear liability standard, and the protection of personal data and individually identifiable health information. The policy also establishes a voluntary safe harbor that rewards responsible development practices. Instead of excessive or premature regulation of AI risks, the appropriate role of government is to ensure consumers have the information necessary to make informed choices, hold bad actors accountable for misconduct, and encourage market outcomes over prescriptive mandates.
Summary: The Patient Protection Act establishes conditions for prescribing certain prescription drugs that carry a high risk of severe adverse effects. The Act is intended to promote a higher standard of care in jurisdictions where constitutional or statutory limitations may preclude other legislative approaches to regulating telehealth prescribing practices. Under the Act, before prescribing a qualifying drug, a prescriber must: (1) conduct an in-person examination of the patient, (2) inform the patient that the drug causes severe adverse effects in more than five percent of users, and (3) schedule the patient for a follow-up appointment. For purposes of the Act, severe adverse effects are defined as death, organ failure, sepsis, or infections and hemorrhaging requiring hospitalization when such effects occur in more than five percent of the drug’s users.
Amending Synthetic Drug Control Act (Renewal)
Summary: Amends ineffective law that simply addresses the problem of synthetic drugs by passing legislation to make specific chemical formulations of synthetic drugs illegal. These specific chemical formulations become dated quickly. This bill goes after broad-based formulations that create or mimic the effect of cannabis or certain controlled substances and thereby helps law enforcement to stay ahead of criminal drug activity. Additionally, it addresses weaknesses in the Analog statute that allow clever distributors to cloak products with an innocuous name in order to insulate themselves by marking packages: “Not For Human Consumption.”
Freedom To Share at College Act (Renewal)
Summary: Participants of health care sharing ministries financially assist fellow participants with large medical expenses with a result usually provided by health insurance. Colleges should accept the ministry of Health Care Sharing in lieu of requiring health insurance from students. A health care sharing ministry (HCSM) is a health care cost sharing arrangement among persons of similar and sincerely held beliefs, administered by a not-for-profit religious organization. Those sharing through HCSMs are called participants, and the money sent by participants to other participants to help pay for their medical expenses is called a share. The sharing is accomplished through participants’ monthly gifts directed to families in financial distress and not to an insurance reserve fund. In addition to addressing the financial needs of those facing health challenges, HCSMs also seek to help meet spiritual and emotional needs as part of the sense of community which exists among participants. This model policy is designed so that an institution of higher education explicitly recognizes HCSMs as a viable non-insurance means for their students to meet the mandatory insurance requirement of the institution.
Suicide Prevention in Higher Education Resolution (Renewal) – dually referred with Education and Workforce Development
Summary: This Resolution encourages each state institution of higher education to develop and implement a policy to advise students and staff on suicide prevention programs available on and off campus. The {insert state} Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is also required to post free suicide prevention materials and program information on its websites, and provide incoming students with information about mental health topics, including local suicide prevention and depression resources.
Patients First Medicaid Reform Act (Renewal)
Summary: This legislation would put patients in charge of their care and provide them incentives to control their medical dollars. Although not spelled out in the policy itself, as with all waivers and model legislation, it can be a narrowly targeted pilot program or a full-scale effort to reform the state’s entire Medicaid system, as in Rhode Island.
The Foster Youth Driver’s License Act (Renewal)
Summary: This act will allow a minor who is in the custody of the Department to apply for a driver’s permit or driver’s license without requiring them to have a parent’s or other adult’s signature on the permit or license applications.
Judiciary: 7 (7 New Models)
Energy Security and Independence Act
Summary: Prohibits climate change-related civil liability actions against parties engaged in the lawful production, manufacture, processing, transportation, sale, and use of fossil fuels and related trade associations, while preserving actions arising from violations of environmental and worker protection laws.
Women’s Childbirth Alternatives, Resources, and Education (CARE) Act
Summary: This model policy establishes a comprehensive framework to ensure that pregnant and postpartum women receive appropriate consideration at every stage of the criminal process. It creates a rebuttable presumption against detention or incarceration during the perinatal period; authorizes diversion, deferred sentencing, probation, stays of execution of sentence, and prosecutor-initiated resentencing; protects confidential perinatal health information from criminal use; and requires de-identified data collection. Grounded in evidence-based practices, the Act recognizes that timely perinatal care improves outcomes across generations and that community-based alternatives reduce long-term costs to states and localities while advancing public safety.
Veterans Treatment Court Act – dually referred with Veterans and Military Affairs
Summary: The Veterans Treatment Court Act authorizes the creation of specialized veterans treatment court programs for eligible defendants in criminal cases. The programs use evidence-based treatment, supervision, multidisciplinary teams, and VA/community partnerships to address underlying service-related conditions that may have contributed to the defendant’s criminal behavior. The Act allows participation before trial, after conviction, or as a condition of probation or community control.
Reporting on Incarceration Pregnancy and Postpartum Outcomes Act
Summary: Across the United States, at least 1,200 admissions of pregnant people occur each year in prisons and jails, yet states lack consistent, standardized data on pregnancy outcomes and the provision of prenatal and postpartum care in custodial settings. Available national data capture only basic outcome counts and provide limited to no information on complications, access to care, delays in medical response, or continuity of care during and after pregnancy. Where more detailed evidence does exist, it suggests significant gaps in care. National analyses have documented delayed medical response, lack of prenatal testing, inadequate nutritional support, and instances of childbirth occurring outside clinical settings. This state of affairs makes it difficult for states to evaluate compliance with existing standards of care or to identify preventable harms. Recent state efforts to require pregnancy outcomes reporting reflect a growing recognition that pregnancy outcomes in custody should be documented as part of routine correctional oversight. These laws establish an important baseline, but so far have not defined minimum data elements or reporting standards sufficient to evaluate quality of care. This model legislation augments prior efforts, establishing a uniform framework for collecting and reporting de-identified pregnancy and postpartum data in custodial settings. The model bill specifies core definitions, minimum data elements, reporting standards, confidentiality protections, and independent review requirements to support oversight, comparability across facilities, and evidence-based policymaking.
Critical Infrastructure Security Act – dually referred with Energy, Environment and Agriculture
Summary: The Critical Infrastructure Protection and Security Act strengthens protections for essential infrastructure by creating criminal penalties for unauthorized entry, drone intrusions, cyberattacks, theft, vandalism, sabotage, and other actions that threaten critical facilities and services. The legislation establishes enhanced penalties for conduct that endangers human life, disrupts essential services, causes significant economic harm, or is carried out with terrorist intent, while also providing civil remedies and restitution for damages. The act is designed to safeguard energy, water, communications, transportation, healthcare, food supply, and other vital infrastructure while preserving protections for lawful protest, journalism, labor activity, and other constitutionally protected conduct.
A Resolution to Safeguard First Amendment Rights in Charitable Giving and Increase Efficiency
Summary: This resolution encourages states to reduce unnecessary regulations on charitable
organizations by eliminating state-specific registration requirements in favor of leveraging
already existing public IRS Form 990 for financial oversight, thereby allowing states to
focus resources on combating fraud and not compiling information that is already widely
available.
Summary: Activists have weaponized public nuisance to obtain ideological goals and target disfavored industries such as lawful gun manufacturing, disposable plastic packaging, and the nation’s energy industry. Public nuisance has long existed as a way to remedy more everyday, local interferences with rights common to the public, such as obstruction of highways or streams. Public nuisance has become a tool to reshape American society through the courtroom and impose social change by court order. States should act to put statutory guardrails in place to preserve important public nuisance principles while ending its use as an ideological weapon against everyday products.
Process and Procedures: 12 (11 New Models, 1 Amendment to Existing Model Policy)
Prohibition on Paid Ballot Trafficking Act
Summary: This act bans paid vote harvesting due to its unsecure nature and the risks it poses to election integrity.
Summary: The Ballot Harvesting Ban prohibits the mass trafficking of absentee ballots. Ballot harvesting is notoriously insecure and sows doubt in the state’s election administration system.
Election Workforce Expansion Act – dually referred with Veterans and Military Affairs
Summary: The Election Workforce Expansion Act prohibits election officials from disqualifying U.S. citizens who are active military members, military spouses, or military dependents from serving as poll workers.
Eligibility Verification and Documentary Proof of Citizenship for Registration Requirements Act
Summary: Citizenship eligibility for registration; duties of the chief election official to make a credible and reliable determination of applicant status based on citizenship status information received from government entities; interaction with local election officials of information on eligibility; necessary documents acceptable as evidence of U.S. citizenship; verification of citizenship status of all registered voters on the current voter registration list who have not yet been verified; requirement to county election offices to independently establish agreements and utilize the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program with the office of United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS); requirement of notation of citizenship on driver license or state ID card and replacement with change in citizenship status; requirement of evidence of citizenship status from drivers license agency and other state agencies that provide public funded benefits to non-citizens to chief election official and state election office; procedures for proof of citizenship for citizenship and provisional voting and requirements for voting; authority to chief election official to meet the federal requirements of the National Voter Registration Act in relation to the federal voter registration form.
Resolution Calling for an Active Defense of the Electoral College in Opposition to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact – dually referred with Federalism, Homeland Security and International Relations
Summary: The Electoral College respects and protects states in our federal republic. It is threatened by the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would manipulate the Electoral College by commingling votes across state lines and forcing the result to correspond with the national popular vote outcome. This would be a radical change, adopting a system rejected by the American Founders. This resolution asserts that the state will consider litigation and legislative options to oppose the Compact should it ever take effect.
Auditor Powers Modernization Act – dually referred with Tax and Fiscal Policy
Summary: This Act would grant state auditors broader authority than what is typically provided under state law. Most significantly, the Act would expressly authorize state auditors to: (i) broadly investigate private organizations that receive or collect any funds from the state, and assess whether those organizations advance state policies; (ii) audit policies and practices related to proxy votes, including by auditing proxy advisors that contract with the state; and (iii) conduct fiscal oversight of State and local elections, including by supervising and approving related budgets and contracts, and by appointing members to election boards. Every state has statutes that define the powers and functions of the state auditor (or other official responsible for state-level audits). Thus, if any provision of this Act is adopted by a state, that provision may conflict or overlap with existing statutes, and the state may have to harmonize those statutes so that they align with the adopted provision. Also, many of the Act’s individual components find precedential support in certain existing state-law provisions (as indicated in the footnotes below), but some of those existing provisions are very rare, and in any event the components are reconfigured here in a way that would expand a state auditor’s powers significantly beyond what is typically authorized by existing law. In other words, although some states’ laws currently provide some of the powers that are set forth in this Act, no single state currently has laws that provide all of those powers. For a state that wishes to expand its auditor’s powers, this Act provides a useful menu of options that could be integrated into that state’s existing statutory framework governing the state auditor.
Amendments to Statement of Principles on Legislative Oversight
Summary: The federalist principles outlined by the authors of the United States Constitution divided power among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Their intent was to provide checks and balances against one branch becoming tyrannical. The States followed this structure as they drafted and ratified their own state constitutions. Powers and authority are clearly outlined to constrain government officials and protect the people’s freedom and liberty. Legislative oversight is a fundamental pillar of the American system of government. As such, the principles of oversight should be clearly understood.
Legislative Approval of Administrative Rules Act – dually referred with Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development
Summary: The Legislature possesses the exclusive constitutional authority to enact law. While legislatures may delegate limited authority to executive agencies to administer statutory programs, the increasing scope and complexity of administrative regulation has resulted in agencies exercising substantial quasi-legislative authority affecting private rights, economic activity, licensure, property interests, and public obligations. In many jurisdictions, administrative rules adopted by agencies acquire the force and effect of law without affirmative legislative approval. This approach risks diminishing democratic accountability and weakening the constitutional separation of powers. The Legislative Approval of Administrative Rules Act establishes a framework for appropriate legislative oversight and approval of agency rulemaking while preserving agency expertise and administrative flexibility.
Unsolicited Pre-Populated Absentee Application Prohibition Act
Summary: This model policy prohibits third parties from distributing absentee ballot applications that are already filled in with voter information, while preserving voter-requested assistance from family members and election officials. It is the shortest and most targeted of the four proposals and is easy to frame as a privacy, anti-confusion, and anti-manipulation measure.
Period for Early Voting in Person Act
Summary: The Period for Early Voting in Person Act establishes a maximum seven (7) day period for early voting with standardized hours of voting throughout the state.
Statements of Principles on Redistricting
Summary: Traditional redistricting principles—especially compactness, contiguity, and minimizing the division of counties and municipalities—help produce districts that are logical, stable, and rooted in real communities. Applied consistently, these criteria support fair and understandable maps while reinforcing public confidence in the redistricting process. When combined with compliance with federal and state law and the use of accurate census data, they help ensure districts remain balanced, lawful, and reflective of the communities they serve.
Statements of Principles on Initiatives and Referenda
Summary: Initiatives and referenda, though intended to grant citizens greater control over government, too often become a tool for special interests to bypass the ordinary legislative process. As with elections generally, states with initiatives and referenda have an obligation to adequately secure these processes and protect taxpayers and the public from abuses and burdensome costs.
Tax and Fiscal Policy: 7 (7 New Models)
529 Education Freedom for States Act – dually referred with Education and Workforce Development
Summary: 529 education savings plans are tax-advantaged accounts that help families save for education expenses. Established under Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, these plans were originally designed to support postsecondary education costs but have since been expanded by Congress to include K-12 tuition, apprenticeship programs, and other qualified educational expenses. As the permissible uses of 529 plans have broadened, they have become increasingly important vehicles for education freedom. This 529 Education Freedom for States Act aligns state tax treatment of 529 plans with federal law by adopting automatic conformity to Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended. The Act ensures that withdrawals treated as qualified under federal law are also treated as qualified for state tax purposes, preventing families from facing state tax penalties on federally authorized education expenses. The model policy strengthens taxpayer protections by limiting administrative interpretations that conflict with state statute, expands state tax incentives for 529 savings, permits equal tax treatment for contributions to out-of-state 529 plans, encourages employer matching contributions into 529 plans, and allows coordination between 529 plans and state education savings account (ESA) programs.
Income and Sales Tax Exemptions for Precious Metals Act
Summary: This model bill exempts certain gold and silver products from sales and use tax and provides income tax neutrality.
Division of Accountability, Value, and Efficiency (DAVE) Act
Summary: This model policy establishes a division to review state agencies and vacant positions and to make recommendations regarding elimination, consolidation, or restructuring thereof.
Opioid Settlement Funds Accountability and Transparency Act
Summary: This model bill creates an oversight framework for opioid settlement funds received by state and local governments from litigation against opioid manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies. It divides recipients and subrecipients into two tiers based on the federal Single Audit threshold: smaller grantees must certify proper use of funds, provide basic financial records, and report on activities and results; larger grantees must obtain a single or program-specific audit in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards. The Act sets filing deadlines, permits equivalent federal audits to satisfy certain requirements, and establishes penalties for noncompliance, including future grant ineligibility and civil liability for misuse of funds.
Auditor Powers Modernization Act – dually refereed with Process and Procedures
Summary: This Act would grant state auditors broader authority than what is typically provided under state law. Most significantly, the Act would expressly authorize state auditors to: (i) broadly investigate private organizations that receive or collect any funds from the state, and assess whether those organizations advance state policies; (ii) audit policies and practices related to proxy votes, including by auditing proxy advisors that contract with the state; and (iii) conduct fiscal oversight of State and local elections, including by supervising and approving related budgets and contracts, and by appointing members to election boards. Every state has statutes that define the powers and functions of the state auditor (or other official responsible for state-level audits). Thus, if any provision of this Act is adopted by a state, that provision may conflict or overlap with existing statutes, and the state may have to harmonize those statutes so that they align with the adopted provision. Also, many of the Act’s individual components find precedential support in certain existing state-law provisions (as indicated in the footnotes below), but some of those existing provisions are very rare, and in any event the components are reconfigured here in a way that would expand a state auditor’s powers significantly beyond what is typically authorized by existing law. In other words, although some states’ laws currently provide some of the powers that are set forth in this Act, no single state currently has laws that provide all of those powers. For a state that wishes to expand its auditor’s powers, this Act provides a useful menu of options that could be integrated into that state’s existing statutory framework governing the state auditor.
Sales Tax Exemption for Purchase of Precious Metals
Summary: This model bill exempts certain gold and silver products from sales tax.
Federal Funds Stress Test Act – dually refereed with Federalism, Homeland Security and International Relations
Summary: This model policy directs the relevant legislative fiscal staff (here called “Legislative Fiscal Analyst”) to conduct budget stress tests and submit to a Federalism Commission or other appropriate body the results that relate to federal funds. That body is to make recommendations regarding those federal funds portions of the budge stress tests. It requires a center at a state institution of higher learning to create and maintain a publicly available dashboard that visualizes state dependency on federal funds and model economic scenarios to inform federal funds contingency planning.
Veterans and Military Affairs: 6 (6 New Models)
Purple Star School Act – dually referred with Education and Workforce Development
Summary: The Purple Star School Act establishes a statewide program to support military-connected students as they transition between schools. It requires eligible public schools to designate military family education facilitators, provide staff training, maintain military family resources online, create student peer ambassador programs, recognize military families, and coordinate with military commands to identify and support military-connected students. The Act also directs the state military children council and education department to develop, administer, review, and update program standards, training, recognition, and implementation requirements.
Summary: The Veteran Resource Center Act establishes a state veterans resource center as a public corporation governed by a board of directors. The center is authorized to coordinate support services for veterans and their families, including benefits assistance, employment support, mental health programs, education and training opportunities, and family services. It also allows the center to use public-private partnerships, regional offices, online tools, and public or private funding to carry out its mission.
Military Crosswalk Act – dually referred with Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development
Summary: The Military Crosswalk Act directs the state occupational licensing division, in consultation with the state department of veterans and military affairs, to prepare a publicly available resource that details when military training, education, credentials, skills, or experience are substantially equivalent to civilian occupational licensing requirements. The Act also directs the division to grant appropriate credit to veterans and servicemembers who apply for an occupational license and report outcomes and recommendations back to the relevant legislative committee.
Statement of Principles on Veteran Referral Networks
Summary: The Statement of Principles on Veteran Referral Networks encourages states to leverage public-private partnerships to better connect veterans with existing resources rather than duplicating services. It outlines principles for veteran-led, community-based referral networks that provide a single point of entry, active case navigation, vetted providers, interoperable data, measurable outcomes, and whole-person support for veterans and their families.
Veterans Treatment Court Act – dually referred with Judiciary
Summary: The Veterans Treatment Court Act authorizes the creation of specialized veterans treatment court programs for eligible defendants in criminal cases. The programs use evidence-based treatment, supervision, multidisciplinary teams, and VA/community partnerships to address underlying service-related conditions that may have contributed to the defendant’s criminal behavior. The Act allows participation before trial, after conviction, or as a condition of probation or community control.
Election Workforce Expansion Act – dually referred with Process and Procedures
Summary: The Election Workforce Expansion Act prohibits election officials from disqualifying U.S. citizens who are active military members, military spouses, or military dependents from serving as poll workers.