Missouri Republicans Cut and Paste ALEC’s Dangerous Ideas

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.afscme.org/blog/missouri-republicans-cut-and-paste-alecs-dangerous-ideas





BY OLIVIA SANDBOTHE | JULY 21, 2014

The founders of our democracy envisioned lawmaking as a serious and deliberative process. Chosen for their qualifications to craft complex statutes, representatives would work late into the night, making tough compromises to solve problems while trying to uphold the values of their constituents.

Or if you’re a Republican member of the Missouri State Legislature, you just copy, paste, and call it a day.

Earlier this month, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed Senate Bill 508, which would make it harder for people to buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. But Nixon didn’t veto it for that reason. The bill was based on sample legislation provided by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a right-wing think tank, and the legislature failed to remove some generic filler text before introducing the bill. As a result, the final bill referred to the wrong chapters of state code.

“It appears that in copy and pasting from this ALEC model act, the General Assembly failed to correct this incorrect reference,” Nixon wrote in his veto letter: http://governor.mo.gov/sites/default/files/legislative_actions/veto_letters/SB%20508%20veto.pdf

FULL story at link.

[justhanginon]

1. Just doing what they are paid to do! n/t