Extreme ALEC Agenda Coming To Iowa With Linda Upmeyer, Bill Dix and Terry Branstad Running Statehouse
Following the 2016 election results, Republicans with deep links to the extreme right-wing ALEC organization now control all levers of Iowa government. The far-right, corporate-backed legislation they draft behind closed doors brought economic disaster to Wisconsin and Kansas. Speaker Linda Upmeyer, incoming Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix and Governor Terry Branstad have given all indications they will pursue a similar dangerous path in Iowa.
“Iowans must be extremely vigilant over their state government as Republicans bring the same agenda that decimated the economies of Wisconsin and Kansas to Iowa,” said Matt Sinovic, executive director of Progress Iowa. “When Republicans took full control in Wisconsin and Kansas, the first thing they did was go after working families’ paychecks so they could pay off their rich donors. No Iowan should be fooled for a minute about their real plans: breaking the back of the working class.”
Since Scott Walker and Wisconsin Republicans took over that state’s government, Wisconsin’s job growth has struggled. Wisconsin has lagged behind the national job creation rate ever since 2011, ranking 35th overall and was the worst in the Midwest since his election.
In Kansas Governor Sam Brownback enacted draconian trickle-down theory tax cuts, which were supposed to boost private sector growth. It didn’t. The state created a mere 9,400 jobs in 2015, again badly lagging behind the national average.
ALEC is a national front group for conservative lawmakers, corporate donors and extremist ideologues to meet and create far-right legislation. Corporate donors bankroll those legislators and effectively turn into “stealth lobbyists.”
Upmeyer served as the national chair for ALEC and currently sits on their board of directors. Dix was a state leader in Iowa. Branstad is a founding member of the organization.
