Limited government, free markets and federalism are the core principles advanced by the American Legislative Exchange Council.
More commonly known as ALEC, it is the largest nonpartisan, voluntary membership organization that promotes these principles to increase and advance individual liberty, prosperity, and the well-being of all Americans. Legislators across the country meet each summer at ALEC’s annual conference.
These conferences are educational. Not only do we learn to be better legislators, we make invaluable connections with our counterparts across the nation. We discuss policies that benefit states and compare and contrast whether or not they will work in our own states.
We also have the opportunity to submit our own model policy to be debated in our task force committees. If a task force agrees to a model policy, it is stamped with the ALEC endorsement.
Uniquely different from our counterparts, New Hampshire legislators are only paid $100 a year. We are citizen legislators. To attend these educational conferences, we either have to pay out of our own pocket, use our campaign funds, or, as the law allows, we may be reimbursed for some of our out-of-pocket expenses.
From left: Rep. Yury Polozov (R-Dunbarton); Rep. Jeanine Notter (R-Merrimack); Rep. Jordon Ulery (R-Hudson) and Rep. Rebecca Litchfield (R-Brentwood)
Rep. Jordan Ulery is a long time legislator. He is the one who introduced me to ALEC.
“ALEC supports the constitutional rights and duties of the ‘several sovereign states,’ especially those in the 10th Amendment. At one annual meeting, the States and Nation Policy Summit (SNPS), the opportunity to meet national movers and shakers is available. How the policies and pressures from the states can and do affect and effect national policy. Rather than proposing massive government interventions, however, ALEC urges local solutions with minimal or only broad federal association,” Ulery said.
Through ALEC, we have had the opportunity to meet and speak with presidents, premiers, ambassadors, and members of parliament from across the globe.
“ALEC gives me the opportunity to share with world leaders what the lunchcounter opinion is in smalltown New Hampshire,” said Ulery, “That opportunity is available nowhere else in U.S. politics!”
One discussion group I attend is the Women’s Caucus. A few years ago, I remember meeting the female ambassador from Afghanistan. I lost count of how many times she said, “Thank you” to us and to America for helping her country. In particular, she was grateful to Americans for making it possible for women and girls to attend school and become more than second-class citizens. Who would have ever thought that a woman from Afghanistan could become an ambassador?
When the Biden administration pulled our troops out of Afghanistan, she was the first person I thought of, and I prayed for her safety. It was through ALEC that I learned she had made it out safely.
Rep. Mike Moffett is a regular contributor to NHJournal. He is also a member of ALEC; specifically, he is on the newly-formed Veterans Task Force. He said he was struck by one presentation in particular at its inaugural meeting at the recent conference in Indianapolis.
“Leonard Gilroy, vice president for government reform at the Reason Foundation, made a case for legalizing certain psychedelics with an eye towards helping veterans (and others) dealing with not only PTSD but traumatic brain injury.
“Gilroy first focused on psilocybin, an active psychedelic found in certain mushrooms, as a non-addictive substance that could give life-saving relief in extreme PTSD cases. That brought to mind HB-528, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Verville (R-Deerfield), which amends the penalties for the possession and use of psilocybin by persons 18 years of age or older. That measure passed the House but was tabled in the Senate.
“I have always been a hard “no” on marijuana legalization, which puts me at odds with a majority of my colleagues. The regular Marine Corps drug tests to which I submitted over many years really created a zero tolerance mentality for me concerning recreational drug use. So HB-528 created concerns for me. But Gilroy’s extensive presentation regarding related legislative experiences in Texas and Arizona gave me a pause. I want to learn more and understand better.
“But it was Gilroy’s remarks about Ibogaine that really got my attention. An apparent wonder drug that is a product of plants found only in Africa, it’s a psychoactive indole alkaloid. This substance reportedly can help regrow brain cells. Such a capability would give hope to families of not only the many veterans who have suffered traumatic brain injury but to families of countless civilians who similarly suffered brain injuries due to accidents or whatever.
“There have been significant and promising clinical trials regarding Ibogaine and both the promise (and the side effects) of this substance need to be better understood. I plan to get smarter about all this.
“Psilocybin and Ibogaine are two words we can expect to come up at the State House in 2026.”
The list of ALEC task forces can be found at https://alec.org/task-force/
In Concord, I have served on the Science, Technology, and Energy Committee for 11 of the 15 years I have been a legislator. At ALEC, I am on the Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force. This year I am also the Chair of Communications and Technology (CAT). My chairman in Concord, Rep. Michael Vose, as well as the clerk of ST & E, JD Bernardy, were on the CAT Task Force with me in Indianapolis. It was the first time I got to be my Chairman’s chair.
I asked Chairman Vose his thoughts on ALEC.
“Having attended ALEC events for over six years, I continue to be impressed with the level of innovation by state legislators. The states really are engines of change and experimentation for new policies to deal with an ever-changing world. For example, the Communications and Technology Task Force, of which I am a member and Rep. Notter serves as the public sector chairperson, adopted model policies about non-discrimination in tax policy for artificial intelligence (AI) and discussed ways to protect kids online in the era of AI. Similarly, the Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force discussed principles for establishing an interstate compact for transmission projects and debated support for telehealth in veterinary medicine.”
On our last night of the conference this year, I had a conversation with ALEC’s CEO, Lisa Nelson. I told her how, in New Hampshire, the left is always attacking ALEC and accusing it of being funded by the Koch Brothers. I learned that there are many who contribute, and the Koch Brothers only give three percent of ALEC’s budget.
Perhaps they should give more.
Members of New Hampshire’s legislature may have differing political ideologies but one thing we should all agree on is that it is a privilege to serve in the citizen legislature in the Granite State.
