How ALEC Develops Policy Solutions for Veterans: Zachary Federico on Project Vanguard Podcast

ALEC Veterans & Military Affairs Task Force Director Zachary Federico recently joined host Kevin Doffing on the Project Vanguard Podcast to discuss veteran-focused legislation, and upcoming research, and how ALEC develops model policies.

The conversation began with a general overview of ALEC and its creation of policy solutions for the states.

“ALEC was founded by some of the same guys that founded many of the major think tanks in Washington, DC.” Federico noted, “The premise behind it was that we have 50 different states. Many of them are solving similar issues 50 different ways, because, as you probably have noticed, state legislators aren’t naturally going to see what other states are doing.”

Doffing then turned the conversation to veteran policy. Federico highlighted his upcoming publication, which will provide a 50-state ranking to monitor veteran issue-based policies across state legislatures.

“We’re planning to release a 50-state ranking on veteran and military affairs policy,” Federico stated, “and one of my favorite things about it is you look at it, and there’s not really a pattern where it’s like red states are really high and blue states are really low. It shows how these are the states that tend to care more about veterans, and they rank higher because they do the right things.”

Federico continued his explanation, noting that at the state level, there is room for dialogue between legislators on this issue compared to others.

“In the 50 states, there’s always someone that is willing to have the conversation, and it’s a lot easier to make an impact on the state level.”

Federico then discussed model policies such as the Military Crosswalk Act, which recognizes military experience for civilian occupational licensing; the Veterans Justice Act, which expands treatment alternatives for veterans whose service-related conditions contribute to criminal charges; and the Election Workforce Expansion Act, which demonstrates how proposals can be reviewed by multiple task forces.

“All of our model policies originate with state legislators. They’re approved by state legislators representing a majority of the states, and they’re approved by the private sector. As everyone agrees, this is a good model policy, and this should move across the states.”

Next, Federico pointed to his recent publication about State Defense Forces and how to get involved with ALEC.

“We recently released a publication on state defense forces, and I think it’s the first one that a think tank has released in over 15 years. In addition, everyone’s welcome to come to our conferences. If anyone’s interested, we’d love to have you involved.”