Florida Marco Rubio's Plan Could Cut Off Birth Control Coverage for Millions

A new bill introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a rising conservative star and leading contender for the Republican vice-presidential nomination in 2012, could cut off birth control coverage for millions of women who receive it through their health plans.

Rubio has sold his proposal—introduced January 31 as the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act," or S. 2043—as a way to counter President Barack Obama's controversial rule requiring even religiously-affiliated schools and universities to offer copay-free birth control to their employees. But health care experts say that its implications could be far broader.

If passed, the bill would allow any institution or corporation to cut off birth control coverage simply by citing religious grounds. (You can read the bill here or in the DocumentCloud embed below.) It has 26 cosponsors in the Senate; a similar proposal sponsored by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) has 148 cosponsors in the House. On Wednesday, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) vowed to repeal Obama's rule, and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pointed to Rubio's bill as a potential model for doing so. Here's the key section of Rubio's proposal:

 

 

marcorubiobirthcontrolbill

 

In English, this means that no entity has to cover birth control in a health plan if it can point to a religious reason for not doing so. And the entity itself is not required to have any religious affiliation. It could just be a plain old corporation. That means that if the middle-aged white guy who runs your company is religiously opposed to birth control, he can have it stripped out of your insurance plan—even if his Viagra is still covered. You could wake up the next morning and find you're paying full price for drugs that you once got for free or at much-reduced prices.

"This could be huge," says Judy Waxman, the vice president for health and reproductive rights at the National Women's Law Center (NWLC). "It's clearly more than a million women who'd be affected if it were just hospitals and universities [that were affected], but under the Rubio bill it could be any employer. It could be millions."

The scope of Rubio's plan could put him in political hot water. Nearly 90 percent of fertile, sexually active American women who do not want to become pregnant are currently using some form of contraception, according to the Guttmacher Institute. That's 43 million people. And nearly every American woman who has had sex—99 percent—has used contraception at least once. Many forms of contraception can cost hundreds of dollars a year—and jumping from zero or a low copay to full prescription prices would hit many cash-strapped female voters where it hurts: in the wallet.

Several factors could blunt the impact of Rubio's bill. Some companies wouldn't want to be seen publicly as acting for religious reasons. And if they are paying close attention to their bottom lines and their employees' health, corporations would think twice before ending birth control coverage for their employees—even for religious reasons. Birth control helps women space their pregnancies, but it's not just about sex and reproduction. It can also reduce, treat, or prevent unpleasant and sometimes expensive and dangerous problems like ovarian cysts, endometriosis, cramps, and very heavy or irregular periods. The National Business Group on Health, a consortium of large companies, has found that failing to provide birth control actually increases health costs for companies by an estimated 15 to 17 percent.

Waxman, the NWLC, and other reproductive rights advocates also fear that the Rubio bill could harm Medicaid, a federal program that provides family planning and many other health care services to poor people. Obama's health care bill included a massive expansion of Medicaid, but Rubio's bill could allow governors who are opposed to birth control to deny it to Medicaid patients who were added to the program under Obama's bill. All state Medicaid plans currently cover family planning, although the state is allowed to decide what that means. The Rubio bill would override that.

Rubio's spokesman did not respond to multiple calls and emails seeking comment. I'll update this story if I receive a response.

Read the whole bill and link to the original article can be read on Mother Jones


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Charges dropped against Florida teen over amateur science experiment

Charges dropped against Florida teen over amateur science experiment

The Florida teenager who was arrested two weeks ago for causing a small explosion on the campus of her high school will not be charged with a crime. Kiera Wilmot, 16, was arrested by police in Bartow, Florida, after conducting an unauthorized science experiment which lightly damaged an eight ounce plastic water bottle. At the time, Wilmot faced possible charges for “possessing or discharging weapons or firearms at a school sponsored event or on school property.” If she had been convicted, she could have faced up to five years in prison. Wilmot’s...

Ned Resnikoff | MSNBC.com 16 May 2013 Hits:332 Florida

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Florida Campaign for Medical Marijuana Gets Financial Backers

Florida Campaign for Medical Marijuana Gets Financial Backers

Two top Democratic fundraisers in Florida have committed to providing the money and know-how to get the question of legalizing medical marijuana on the state ballot in 2014. "I'm prepared to keep raising money and writing checks until I get the signatures to put it on the ballot," attorney John Morgan said late on Tuesday. Morgan, who routinely hosts presidents and national political figures at his Orlando-area home, recently signed on as chairman of People United for Medical Marijuana-Florida, a grassroots campaign that operated on a shoestring until now. Morgan was recruited by...

Barbara Liston | Reuter's 22 Apr 2013 Hits:318 Florida

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Occupy Palm Beach County: One Year Later

Occupy Palm Beach County: One Year Later

On September 17, 2011 Occupy Wall Street coalesced into sudden view, built from long work by many organizers, the promptings of Adbusters magazine, and the accumulated frustration, anger and desperation of decades of escalating class warfare by financial and corporate elites against ordinary people. A small group of young people near Lake Worth, Florida recognized themselves in the actions of the mostly young people in New York, and began to plan their own Occupation. People on local union, Democratic Party, progressive and other e-mail lists were invited to a rally at...

Mike Budd | Palm Beach Progressive Post 22 Jan 2013 Hits:366 Florida

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Florida Governor Inflates Cost Of Medicaid Expansion By 2,600% To Avoid Implementing Obama…

Florida Governor Inflates Cost Of Medicaid Expansion By 2,600% To Avoid Implementing Obamacare

Internal email messages uncovered by Health News Florida reveal that Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) is knowingly citing inaccurate cost estimates to justify his refusal to expand Florida’s Medicaid program. Though the governor’s office is fully aware that the numbers are wrong, Scott continues to use them anyway, the documents show. Florida, which has one of the highest rates of uninsurance in the nation, could extend health coverage to about one million low-income residents by accepting Obamacare’s optional Medicaid expansion. But the governor — an ardent Obamacare opponent — has...

Tara Culp-Ressler | Think Progress 08 Jan 2013 Hits:711 Florida

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Ex-Fla. Gov. Crist tweets he's switching to Democrat Party

Ex-Fla. Gov. Crist tweets he's switching to Democrat Party

Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who was elected as the state's chief executive as a Republican and then ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as an independent, announced on Twitter on Friday night that he's switching to the Democratic Party. The announcement fanned speculation that Crist was gearing up to seek to regain his old job from Republican Gov. Rick Scott in 2014. Crist sent out a Tweet that said, "Proud and honored to join the Democratic Party in the home of President (at)Barack Obama!" The Tweet included a...

Gary Fineout | Associated Press 08 Dec 2012 Hits:666 Florida

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Florida Early Voters Show Up in Huge Numbers Despite Suppression Effort

Florida Early Voters Show Up in Huge Numbers Despite Suppression Effort

As the St. John Progressive Missionary Baptist Church vans pulled up to the C. Blythe Andrews library polling place to let congregants out to vote, a line already snaked out the voting entrance. A table was set up on one end of the library’s parking lot where volunteers served fried fish and hush puppies. A DJ blared gospel music that could be heard blocks away. It was after-church Sunday, the first and only Sunday of “Souls to the Polls” in most of Florida, and the second...

Brentin Mock and Voting Rights Watch | the Nation 30 Oct 2012 Hits:630 Florida

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Florida Democrats Crushing The GOP in 2012 Voter Registrations

Florida Democrats Crushing The GOP in 2012 Voter Registrations

On the last day to register for the 2012 election, new Democratic voters outnumber the GOP by six-to-one or more.  Don’t get depressed by the latest polls with Mitt Romney pulling ahead in Florida or by reports of the GOP’s plans to steal the election there by falsifying Democratic voter registration files. Tuesday is the final day to register to vote for the presidential election in Florida and Democrats have trounced the GOP’s efforts to register voters. Consider these numbers from the Florida Secretary of State’s...

Steven Rosenfeld | AlterNet 09 Oct 2012 Hits:936 Florida

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Romney Works to Build Momentum in Florida, a State Critical to Victory

Romney Works to Build Momentum in Florida, a State Critical to Victory

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Seeking to capitalize on his commanding debate performance last week, Mitt Romney tried to turn the enthusiasm of large crowds during a three-day visit to Florida into momentum to carry a state that, by all accounts, is crucial to his path to the White House. His effort to capture a state that President Obama won in 2008 came on a day when the usual pattern of the race was reversed: while Mr. Romney has been criticized by some Republicans for spending too...

Trip Gabriel | The New York Times 08 Oct 2012 Hits:500 Florida

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Has Florida Created a Trap at the Polls for Ex-Felons?

Has Florida Created a Trap at the Polls for Ex-Felons?

Tampa Despite the heat and threat of thunderstorms, about 500 African-Americans are gathered in Rowlett Park for an end-of-summer day of barbecuing, dancing and playing cards. It’s the fifth annual Old School Picnic, a community park jam that brings together two black neighborhoods that were torn apart when the College Hill and Ponce de Leon public housing projects were razed in 2000. Earlier that morning, President Barack Obama held a massive campaign rally in nearby St. Petersburg, trying to turn out every last...

Brentin Mock | The Nation 29 Sep 2012 Hits:686 Florida

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Suspicious voter registration forms found in 10 Florida counties

Suspicious voter registration forms found in 10 Florida counties

Florida elections officials said Friday that at least 10 counties have identified suspicious and possibly fraudulent voter registration forms turned in by a firm working for the Republican Party of Florida, which has filed an election fraud complaint with the state Division of Elections against its one-time consultant. The controversy in Florida -- which began with possibly fraudulent forms that first cropped up in Palm Beach County --  has engulfed the Republican National Committee, which admitted Thursday that it urged state parties in seven swing states...

By Matea Gold, Joseph Tanfani and Melanie Mason | LosAngeles Times Politics 29 Sep 2012 Hits:774 Florida

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After Mistakenly Purging Citizens, Florida Agrees to Let Them Vote

After Mistakenly Purging Citizens, Florida Agrees to Let Them Vote

In a partial victory for voter rights and immigrant groups, Florida residents who were mistakenly removed from the voter rolls this year because the state classified them as noncitizens will be returned to the rolls and allowed to vote in November. The Florida Department of State, which initiated the review of noncitizens on the voter rolls, also agreed Wednesday to inform the 2,625 people on the list who are eligible to vote that their voting rights had been fully restored. Still unresolved is whether Florida...

Lizette Alvarez | The New York Times 13 Sep 2012 Hits:659 Florida

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Rick Scott Rejects Health Care Funds That Would Keep Disabled Kids Out of Nursing Homes

Rick Scott Rejects Health Care Funds That Would Keep Disabled Kids Out of Nursing Homes

Florida's Republican governor Rick Scott loathes Obamacare so much that he turned down $40 million in federal health care funds that would keep hundreds of disabled kids at home with their parents, rather than warehoused in nursing homes. So says the Department of Justice, whose civil rights division recently investigated the situation in Florida. ABC News reported this weekend that, in a letter to Florida's attorney general, the Justice Department cited the case of a "5-year-old child, a quadriplegic after a car accident, who had been...

Stephanie Mencimer | Mother Jones 11 Sep 2012 Hits:3624 Florida

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The Faces of Voter Suppression Become the Voices of Voter Empowerment at “Let Me Vote”

The Faces of Voter Suppression Become the Voices of Voter Empowerment at “Let Me Vote”

On September 12, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida and partner organizations will host a coalition of individuals impacted by restrictive voting regulations in Florida sharing their stories about combating disenfranchisement and informing voters about their rights at “Let Me Vote: The Faces of Voter Suppression Become the Voices of Voter Empowerment.” The event marks the launch of the ACLU of Florida’s “Let Me Vote” campaign, part of a nationwide ACLU program of the same name aiming to get accessible,...

ACLU Florida 10 Sep 2012 Hits:488 Florida

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Two Florida Republicans Want Law Allowing Gun Owners to Shoot 'Illegal' Voters

Two Florida Republicans Want Law Allowing Gun Owners to Shoot 'Illegal' Voters

They were classic buttoned-up conservatives, but I couldn’t believe my ears. “Are you guys performance artists?” "No," Stevens snorted. Just a few minutes earlier, two men who identified themselves as Robert Stevens and John Nelson had handed me a flyer. It explained that they wanted the state of Florida to pass a “Protect the Polls law” under which “anyone suspected of committing voter fraud can be fired upon – provided the weapon is registered and operated by its licensed owner.” The two 28-year-olds, who said...

Arun Gupta | AlterNet 30 Aug 2012 Hits:817 Florida

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Code Pink Protests as Giant Vaginas at RNC: 'Can't Say It, Don't Legislate It!'

Code Pink Protests as Giant Vaginas at RNC: 'Can't Say It, Don't Legislate It!'

Activist group Code Pink, protesting this week at the Republican National Convention, marched through the streets of Tampa on Monday dressed as a group of giant vaginas to speak out against the GOP's "war on women". The group also congregated in a demonstration outside Ralph Reed’s Faith & Freedom Coalition rally, among several other events, holding signs with slogans such as "My body, my vagina, my decision," and "Can't say it, don't legislate it." "Eve Ensler famously said: 'My vagina's furious and it needs to talk.' Our...

Common Dreams Staff 29 Aug 2012 Hits:749 Florida

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Tampa Authorities Empty Jail in Anticipation of Mass Arrests at GOP Convention

Tampa Authorities Empty Jail in Anticipation of Mass Arrests at GOP Convention

Thousands of Republicans from around the country will descend upon Tampa, Florida next week for the Republican National Convention, and if recent history is any guide, so too will hundreds of protesters. To prepare, Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee has ordered the Orient Road Jail, a 1,700 bed prison in Tampa, emptied, relocating some inmates to another nearby prison and releasing others on bond. The entire facility has been transformed into a one-stop booking, detention, and bond-issuance center capable of handling large numbers of arrests,...

Adam Peck | ThinkProgress 24 Aug 2012 Hits:897 Florida

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Fla. Gov. says no to more days for early voting

Fla. Gov. says no to more days for early voting

Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday flatly rejected any talk of expanding the number of early-voting days in the state prior to this year's presidential election despite a federal court ruling that a new state law could hurt minority participation. And the Republican governor went further, hinting that he may take action against the lone local election supervisor who is not going along with a plan to offer only eight days of early voting instead of at least 12 days. State officials are scrambling to come...

Gary Fineout | The Miami Herald 21 Aug 2012 Hits:529 Florida

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Fla. Republican: We wanted to suppress black votes

Fla. Republican: We wanted to suppress black votes

Florida's disgraced former GOP chairman says the party had meetings about "keeping blacks from voting" Former Florida Republican Party chairman Jim Greer in 2008(Credit: AP/Reinhold Matay) In the debate over new laws meant to curb voter fraud in places like Florida, Democrats always charge that Republicans are trying to suppress the vote of liberal voting blocs like blacks and young people, while Republicans just laugh at such ludicrous and offensive accusations. That is, every Republican except for Florida’s former Republican Party chairman Jim Greer, who, scorned by...

Alex Seitz-Wald | Salon 31 Jul 2012 Hits:1019 Florida

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PDAPBC Preferred Democrats 2012 Primary and General Elections

PDAPBC Preferred Democrats 2012 Primary and General Elections

After evaluating answers to our initial, detailed questionnaire, our Steering Committee is pleased to recommend the following candidates for local, state, and national office. These candidates have demonstrated an understanding of the social, economic, and international issues confronting our nation. Their responses are in accord with the liberal, progressive values of PDAPBC. We believe they are candidates in the best tradition of the Democratic Party. *Starred candidates are involved in Democratic primaries. Congressional District 18: Patrick Murphy* Congressional District 20: Alcee L. Hastings State Senate District 27: Jeff Clemens* State Representative District...

Palm Beach Progressive Post 31 Jul 2012 Hits:843 Florida

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Florida Governor Rick Scott Preaches Austerity, Spends Big On Frivolous Lawsuits

Florida Governor Rick Scott Preaches Austerity, Spends Big On Frivolous Lawsuits

Florida Governor Rick Scott has spoken a lot about cutting government spending, lowering taxes for corporations, and removing social safety nets that millions of people rely on. But while he is busy eliminating more than $3 billion from public classrooms, his administration is simultaneously racking up hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in legal expenses to defend several of its own unconstitutional laws and fight frivolous battles in federal court over Obamacare. To date, Rick Scott has authorized more than $888,000 for legal costs. Nearly...

Adam Peck | ThinkProgress Justice 31 Jul 2012 Hits:750 Florida

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Rick Scott Shuts Down TB Hospital Amid "Worst Outbreak in 20 Years"

Rick Scott Shuts Down TB Hospital Amid

Despite a warning from the Centers for Disease Control, it's the latest move by the Florida governor to gut public services. Welcome to Sunshine State: Republican-run since 1998, tea party-controlled since 2010, and fast becoming one of the lowest-service states in the nation. Which helps explain how lawmakers shut down its only tuberculosis clinic last month, just as the worst outbreak of the infectious disease in America's recent history flared up with a vengeance in Jacksonville, Miami, and who knows where...

Adam Weinstein 09 Jul 2012 Hits:1150 Florida

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PDA In Your State

Issue Team Calls

Wed May 22, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM
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PDA Issues

PDA is organized around several core issues. These issues include:

Each team hosts a monthly conference call. Calls feature legislators, staffers and other policy experts. On these calls we determine PDA legislation to support as well as actions and future events.

Florida Leadership


For support in organizing within your state, contact:



Mike Fox

 

State Leadership
Mike Fox

Email us at: florida@pdamerica.org

Chapters

Broward County - CD 17, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23
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Hillsborough County - CD 09 and 11
Martin County - CD 16 and 23
Miami - CD 17 and 20
Orange County
Palm Beach County - CD 16, 19 22 and 23
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Tallahassee

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FL Legislators with ALEC Ties

House of Representatives

  • Rep. Larry Ahern (R-51), registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Ben Albritton (R-66), registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Dennis Baxley (R-Ocala), attended 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting, sponsored 2005 SB 436 "Castle Doctrine Act" based on ALEC model[52]
  • Rep. Michael Bileca (R-117), registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Jeff Brandes (R-52), attended 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[52]
  • Rep. Jason Brodeur (R-33), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force member, registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Rachel Burgin (R-56), registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Matt Caldwell (R-73), ALEC member who has "attended one conference to date, having paid for the membership and any conference costs with my excess campaign account"[53][51]
  • Rep. Richard Corcoran (R-45), registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Fred Costello (R-26), "could not afford the time out of my business to attend" the 2011 ALEC Annual meeting but looks "forward to attending ALEC in the future"[54]
  • Rep. Steve Crisafulli (R-32), registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51] but "not a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council"[55]
  • Rep. Daniel Davis (R-13), registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Jose Diaz (R-115), registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Chris Dorworth (R-34), dues-paying ALEC member as of 2011[56], registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Brad Drake (R -5)[17]
  • Rep. Clay Ford (R-3)[17][20], ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force member, registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Rich Glorioso (R-Longwood), attended 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[52]
  • Rep. Matt Hudson (R-101), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force member, registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Clay Ingram (R-2), attended 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[57][51]
  • Rep. Ana Rivas Logan (R-114), registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Debbie Mayfield (R-80), ALEC member[58]
  • Rep. Peter Nehr (R-48), registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Bryan Nelson (R-38), registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Jeanette Nunez (R-Miami), attended 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[52]
  • Rep. Jimmy T. Patronis, Jr. (R-6), ALEC State Chairman[59], registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Ray Pilon (R-69); Public Safety and Elections Task Force
  • Rep. Scott Plakon (R-37), ALEC International Relations Task Force member, worked with ALEC in 2011 on "a proposed constitutional amendment that prohibits laws that would force people to join health care plans, an attack on federal health care changes"[52]
  • Rep. Stephen L. Precourt (R-41), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force member, registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Lake Ray (R-17), registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Kelli Stargel (R-64), registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. John Tobia (R-31), attended 2009 ALEC Annual Meeting at a taxpayer cost of $1,150; [60] in August 2011 claimed he has not attended another ALEC meeting and is not a member[61]
  • Rep. Carlos Trujillo (R-116), registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. Will Weatherford (R-61), registered to attend 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[51]
  • Rep. John Wood (R-65), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force member who calls himself "proud to be a member of ALEC and has attended two annual conferences - Atlanta in 2009 and most recently New Orleans in 2011"[62][51]
  • Rep. Dana Young (R-Tampa), attended 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting[52]
  • Former Rep. Bill Posey (now Congressman, R-Rockledge), ALEC Alumni in Congress[63] and 1999 recipient of ALEC "Legislator of the Year" Award[64]

Senate

Information from Sourcewatch:

PR Rank