New Model Policies from the 49th ALEC Annual Meeting
ALEC recently wrapped up our 49th Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia at the end of July. It was a great success with over 1,200 attendees, including state lawmakers from nearly all 50 states.
Attendees heard from speakers, such as The Honorable Newt Gingrich, Scott Rasmussen, Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, and more on topics like education freedom and ending human trafficking. They also attended workshops on important issues such ESG, digital assets, and inflation.
We also passed 29 new ALEC model policies across our task forces, summarized below.
ALEC CEO Lisa B. Nelson recently explained the importance of these model policies:
“With Washington doubling down on the failed inflationary policies that are crushing the American people, the country is increasingly looking to the states for leadership. ALEC model policies are the free market, limited government solutions to help individuals, families, and job creators prosper.”
Task Force on Civil Justice
Democratic Accountability in Board Appointments Act
The Democratic Accountability in Board Appointments Act seeks to expand the pool of candidates from which a state’s appointing authority can select from when appointing individuals to state occupational boards and commissions. This model does so by ensuring that appointing authorities are not restricted in their appointment selections by being required to choose from any generated lists or other nominations provided to them.
Independent Administrative Law Judges Act
The Independent Administrative Law Judges Act seeks to promote fair, unbiased, and independent adjudication of executive agency proceedings and rulemaking through the creation of a State Office of Administrative Hearings, an independent agency tasked to serve as a forum for other agency adjudications.
Overtime Exemptions and Class Actions Prohibition Act
This Act would exempt traveling to and from a worksite and performing certain routine tasks from the overtime pay requirement, and it would prohibit opt-out class actions for overtime violations.
Task Force on Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development
Courier Application Services Act
This Act clarifies how states define courier application services (CAS) and CAS drivers. It also requires CAS to establish specific drug and alcohol policies and to collect specific information from drivers prior to admitting them to the CAS digital network.
This model policy defines terms, enacts provisions related to Earned Wage Access Services, including provider registration, provider operations, and provider reporting.
Protecting Businesses and Workers Act
This Act preempts specific local labor policies that address employee wage and benefits mandates, hours and scheduling, and employee output. It also bans local governments from affecting these policies as they relate to its vendors and other business partners. Local government employees are exempt from this act.
Overtime Exemptions and Class Actions Prohibition Act
This Act would exempt traveling to and from a worksite and performing certain routine tasks from the overtime pay requirement, and it would prohibit opt-out class actions for overtime violations.
Smart Cryptocurrency Rules Act
As federal rules have not yet been created to cover cryptocurrencies and digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and considering that states can claim some authority over digital assets or registered companies that deal in digital assets, this establishes preliminary definitions and rules to promote entrepreneurship and provide legal certainty to benefit residents and investors who use cryptocurrency.
Protection from Drone Trespassing Act
This Act addresses drone surveillance and trespassing on private property by banning specific drone behavior, with exceptions for safety and emergency situations.
Democratic Accountability in Board Appointments Act
The Democratic Accountability in Board Appointments Act seeks to expand the pool of candidates from which a state’s appointing authority can select when appointing individuals to state occupational boards and commissions. This model does so by ensuring that appointing authorities are not restricted in their appointment selections by being required to choose from any generated lists or other nominations provided to them.
Residential Amenities Sharing Act
Allows for the operation of residential amenities sharing at the municipal level. Municipalities shall not prohibit or effectively prohibit home-sharing amenities units. Municipalities may reasonably regulate the operation of residential amenities sharing units to ensure minimal impact on a community and an ability to address bad actors.
Act to Prohibit State Contracts with Chinese Government-Owned or Affiliated Technology Manufacturers
This model policy prohibits states from using funds to purchase technology products, and/or services from manufacturers or other providers that are owned by, affiliated with and/or unduly influenced by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Task Force on Communications and Technology
Smart Cryptocurrency Rules Act
As federal rules have not yet been created to cover cryptocurrencies and digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and considering that states can claim some authority over digital assets or registered companies that deal in digital assets, this establishes preliminary definitions and rules to promote entrepreneurship and provide legal certainty to benefit residents and investors who use cryptocurrency.
Residential Amenities Sharing Act
Allows for the operation of residential amenities sharing at the municipal level. Municipalities shall not prohibit or effectively prohibit home-sharing amenities units. Municipalities may reasonably regulate the operation of residential amenities sharing units to ensure minimal impact on a community and an ability to address bad actors.
State Infrastructure Protection Act
This model policy prohibits the state from entering into contracts or other agreements with companies that are owned by or unduly influenced by national governments that are potential adversaries to the United States that might jeopardize and compromise the state’s critical infrastructure. This model policy is specifically intended to counter the national security threat posed to the state and by extension the nation by infiltration of foreign state-owned enterprises from countries including but not limited to China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.
This resolution urges Congress and the Department of Justice to empanel an investigation into the extent to which the Biden White House pressured social media platforms to restrict and remove information and comments related to COVID.
Protection from Drone Trespassing Act
This Act addresses drone surveillance and trespassing on private property by banning specific drone behavior, with exceptions for safety and emergency situations.
Task Force on Criminal Justice
Child Protection Investigations Reform Act
This model outlines the procedures for notifying an alleged perpetrator of child abuse or neglect of his or her rights in connection with an investigation conducted by the Department of Family and Protective Services.
Task Force on Education and Workforce Development
This model policy requires all public schools to have policies and procedures in place for the online disclosure of learning materials for all grades Pre-K-12.
This model outlines a universal education savings account to expand school choice for families and their children.
Protecting Religious Homeschooling Act
This model policy clarifies state tax code with regard to religious property tax exemptions. Some churches around the country have been reluctant to permit religious homeschooling within their facilities for fear of jeopardizing their tax-exempt status. This model explicitly adds religious instruction as an exempt activity that will not jeopardize a church’s tax-exempt status.
Amendments to Textbook Cost Transparency Act
The model policy requires public college and universities to disclose any fee amounts, student data terms of use, and opt-out procedures within their course schedules.
Task Force on Energy, Environment and Agriculture
The amendments to this resolution call on the White House and the SEC to enact sensible energy policy while respecting the core purpose of financial disclosure regulation, which is to inform investors of core business functions.
The Resolution Urging Removal of Governmental Barriers to Active Forest Management, to Reduce Catastrophic Wildfires calls on states and the federal government to engage in science-backed best forestry practices in order to reduce the chance and impact of wildfires. Many states and local branches of the Department of Interior neglect basic responsibilities, such as cleaning dead wood off forest floors, which lead to prime conditions for devastating wildfires. The logging industry and state agencies are often barred from doing preventative maintenance of our nation’s forests, which ultimately result in widespread economic and social devastation.
Electric Generation Facility Closures and Reliability Act
Electric Generation Facility Closures and Reliability Act would prevent shuttering traditional power plants before new generation sources are online and ready to operate. Power plants are closing across the country before new sources of electricity come online, putting Americans at risk for rolling blackouts.
Task Force on Federalism and International Relations
This model policy seeks to commend the nation of Israel for its cordial and mutually beneficial relationship with the United States and with this state and for other purposes.
Taiwan Friendship Caucus Resolution
This resolution commemorates the formation of this state’s Taiwan Friendship Caucus.
Resolution Urging the United States to Invite Taiwan to Join the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework
This model policy supports the inclusion of Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), a regional multilateral economic agreement announced by the White House in spring 2022 that is designed to promote trade policy collaboration among IPEF nations as well as to counter China’s economic influence in the Asia-Pacific.
This Application calls for an Inflation-Fighting, Federal Fiscal Responsibility Amendment Convention, notifies Congress of its duty to Call the Convention now.
State Infrastructure Protection Act
This model policy prohibits the state from entering into contracts or other agreements with companies that are owned by or unduly influenced by national governments that are potential adversaries to the United States that might jeopardize and compromise the state’s critical infrastructure. This model policy is specifically intended to counter the national security threat posed to the state and by extension the nation by infiltration of foreign state-owned enterprises from countries including but not limited to China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.
This model policy prohibits states from using funds to purchase technology products, and/or services from manufacturers or other providers that are owned by, affiliated with and/or unduly influenced by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
This resolution recognizes the importance of pursuing ambitious trade agreements that include strong and enforceable commitments to protect intellectual property rights (IPR) on American innovation.
The Resolution Urging Removal of Governmental Barriers to Active Forest Management, to Reduce Catastrophic Wildfires calls on states and the federal government to engage in science-backed best forestry practices in order to reduce the chance and impact of wildfires. Many states and local branches of the Department of Interior neglect basic responsibilities, such as cleaning dead wood off forest floors, which lead to prime conditions for devastating wildfires. The logging industry and state agencies are often barred from doing preventative maintenance of our nation’s forests, which ultimately result in widespread economic and social devastation.
This model policy increases oversight, transparency, and accountability when a state considers funding from the federal government.
Task Force on Health and Human Services
Hospital Price Transparency Act
The purpose of this Act is to require healthcare facilities to disclose prices for certain items and services provided by certain medical facilities; provide administrative penalties; prohibit collective action of debt for non-compliant facilities.
Child Protection Investigations Reform Act
This model outlines the procedures for notifying an alleged perpetrator of child abuse or neglect of his or her rights in connection with an investigation conducted by the Department of Family and Protective Services.
Pharmacists Prescribing Authority Act
Pharmacists receive extensive training and education to evaluate, diagnose and prescribe medications to patients for a variety of medical conditions. This Act would empower pharmacists to utilize the full extent of their pharmacological expertise to prescribe certain low-risk medications to patients.
Task Force on Tax and Fiscal Policy
Amendments to State Government Employee Retirement Protection Act
This model strengthens fiduciary rules to protect pensioners from politically driven investment strategies. These strategies reduce investment returns over the long term which leads to underfunding in state pension plans across the country.
This model policy increases oversight, transparency, and accountability when a state considers funding from the federal government.
Protecting Religious Homeschooling Act
This model policy clarifies state tax code with regard to religious property tax exemptions. Some churches around the country have been reluctant to permit religious homeschooling within their facilities for fear of jeopardizing their tax-exempt status. This model explicitly adds religious instruction as an exempt activity that will not jeopardize a church’s tax-exempt status.
This Application calls for an Inflation-Fighting, Federal Fiscal Responsibility Amendment Convention, notifies Congress of its duty to Call the Convention now.