Rauner’s playbook
Conservative ALEC tells states how to fix economy
POLITICS | Patrick Yeagle
The acronym ALEC sends waves of disgust down the average liberal’s spine, but for a Republican governor in a Democratic-leaning state, it can mean a recipe for fixing a busted system.
While Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner doesn’t namedrop the controversial conservative think tank known as the American Legislative Exchange Council, his major policy proposals so far seem to follow the group’s playbook. ALEC released its eighth annual “Rich States, Poor States” report last week, dishing Illinois as one of the poor states, a ranking Rauner hopes to change with his “Turnaround Agenda.”
ALEC is a tax-exempt nonprofit focused on producing model legislation for conservative causes and is funded mostly by corporations seeking to influence state legislatures. The group pushes ideas like deep cuts to state spending, changing public pensions to a 401k-style plan and enacting “right to work” laws.
Released on April 8, ALEC’s “Rich States, Poor States” report ranks states on economic performance over the 10 years spanning 2003 and 2013. The report also ranks states on future economic outlook based on 15 “variables” reflecting conservative policies like low taxes, low public employee levels and a low or nonexistent minimum wage. According to ALEC, Illinois ranked 46 th in economic performance among all states and 40 th for future economic outlook.
Illinois has the fifth largest economy among all states, with a gross domestic product of more than $671 billion in 2013. That also makes it one of the largest economies in the world – larger than that of many wealthy nations like Sweden.
The ALEC report spurred pushback from liberal groups like the Center for Media and Democracy, which last week blasted the report as fatally flawed. CMD says ALEC’s measures have been debunked as not reflecting states’ actual economic performance.
“The document … is sold to the press as an objective, academic measure of state economic performance,” the group said, “but should instead be viewed as a lobbyist scorecard ranking states on the adoption of extreme ALEC policies that have little or nothing to do with good economic outcomes.”
Rauner, Illinois’ first Republican governor since 2003, doesn’t reference ALEC in public speeches, but his major policy prescriptions echo the group’s notions of reform. Asked whether Rauner looks to ALEC for guidance, Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly issued a statement to Illinois Times.
“Many aspects of Governor Rauner’s Turnaround Agenda are based on feedback from hard-working families and business owners on what it’s like to live and do business in Illinois,” Kelly said. “The Turnaround Agenda is about making Illinois more competitive to bring more businesses and jobs to the state, while empowering voters and communities so they can control costs and property tax rates at the local level, making Illinois a more attractive place to live and raise a family. “ Even before being elected, Rauner made clear his distaste for public employee unions during the Republican primary campaign. Although he toned down his anti-union rhetoric to broaden his appeal during the general election campaign, not long after he took office Rauner issued an executive order that attempted to enact “right to work” principles.
The order directed the state’s management agency to stop deducting “fair share” dues from the paychecks of non-union state employees. The dues are meant to compensate state employee unions for representing the interests of all employees, and unions cannot use that money for political purposes.
Rauner framed his executive order as protecting the free-speech and assembly rights of employees who don’t want to join a union at their workplace. The order was challenged in court by several state employee unions and awaits a resolution. The governor has also proposed creating “right to work zones” around the state to do away with fair share dues for unions at private businesses.
To address Illinois’ pension underfunding, Rauner hopes to create a new tier of state employee pensions for all future benefits yet to be earned. Like ALEC’s push for states to move to 401k-style pension systems, Rauner’s new pension tier would switch from the current “defined benefits” plan to a “defined contribution” plan. He hopes that arrangement, coupled with offering voluntary pension buyouts, would save the state $2 billion and pass constitutional muster. The current lawsuit over pension changes passed in 2013 awaits a decision by the Illinois Supreme Court.
Rauner has made another ALEC prescription – deep cuts to state spending – his focus during budget negotiations with the Democrat-controlled legislature. His budget proposal issued in February called for cuts to numerous state programs, and he has repeatedly said he wants to see spending decrease before considering new revenue like a tax increase.
However, Rauner has also taken some actions that reflect more centrist or even liberal policies. His second executive order, issued the day after he took office, attempted to end the “revolving door” of state employees going to work as lobbyists and expanded an existing ban on gifts to state employees. Another executive order created a study of state contracts to improve participation by minority- and women-owned businesses. He also issued an executive order decrying prison overpopulation and creating a commission to study criminal justice reforms.
Contact Patrick Yeagle at [email protected].
