Every year, a handful of New Mexico legislators attends the national conference of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a controversial conservative organization best known by its acronym ALEC.

Those involved say the conferences are a good way to get fresh ideas and perspectives by meeting fellow lawmakers -- as well as various state and federal officials and experts on a variety of topics.

ALEC, which is sponsoring an invitation-only membership drive reception for legislators Wednesday at the Eldorado Hotel's Old House restaurant, is "basically about Jeffersonian democracy, individual rights, free markets and limited government," says state co-chairman Rep. Paul Bandy, R-Aztec.

But critics don't see the organization in benign terms.

"ALEC," said Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, "is the truest embodiment of all the things that people who care about keeping corporate money out of politics, preserving our democracy and keeping our air, land and water clean fear most."

Egolf's view is almost mild compared with that of some critics around the country.

"ALEC is not a lobby; it is not a front group. It is much more powerful than that," says a website called ALEC Exposed, a project of a left-leaning group called the Center for Media and Democracy.

"Through ALEC, behind closed doors, corporations hand state legislators the changes to the law they desire that directly benefit their bottom line," ALEC Exposed says.

Senate Republican Whip Bill Payne of Albuquerque, the other state co-chairman of ALEC, scoffed at such talk. "There's nothing nefarious about it," he said in a recent interview.

Bandy said not every piece of model legislation that comes out of ALEC ends up as a bill in the New Mexico Legislature.

Some do, however. A joint memorial requesting the governor to withdraw the state from the Western Climate Initiative, similar to a piece of ALEC model legislation, received some media attention last year, though it didn't make it past its first committee in the House.

ALEC Exposed has a list of nine pieces of legislation -- mostly from last year, though some are from 2010 and earlier -- said to be based on ALEC-approved bills. But, as Bandy pointed out, only one of those actually has passed the Legislature.

That's the 2010 bill that established the state Sunshine Portal, a website that lists state budgets, expenditures, investments, contractors, employees and other public information. That bill, sponsored by Sen. Sander Rue, R-Albuquerque, was overwhelmingly supported by both parties in the Legislature.

"That may be the one good idea ALEC ever had," Egolf said.

Birth of ALEC

According to its website, the organization began in September 1973. Among the original members were Illinois state Rep. Henry Hyde, who went on to become an influential congressman; conservative activist Paul Weyrich; and Lou Barnett, who had worked on Ronald Reagan's 1968 presidential campaign. Other key early ALEC members included U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., U.S. Rep. Jack Kemp, R-N.Y., and John Kasich, who now is governor of Ohio.

Officially, ALEC is nonpartisan. Democrats are welcome to join, and both Payne and Bandy said that in the past, some Democratic legislators from New Mexico have attended. But the unabashedly conservative organization's members are mainly Republicans.

In 1986, ALEC began forming various task forces to craft its model legislation.

Corporate influence

One of the chief complaints about ALEC is the influence of corporations. Most of the group's conferences are paid for by corporations.

Of course, corporate sponsorship is a fact of life for virtually any national group that hosts conventions and national conferences, including both the Republican and Democratic parties and other groups for legislators.

What makes ALEC different in this regard is the fact that private businesses aren't just sponsors, but members.

"One of ALEC's greatest strengths is the public-private partnership," the organization's website says. "ALEC provides the private sector with an unparalleled opportunity to have its voice heard, and its perspective appreciated, by the legislative members."

Each of the nine task forces have "public" chairmen, i.e. legislators, as well as "private" chairmen, from the business world. Corporate membership on the task forces costs extra, from $2,500 to $10,000.

"Legislators welcome their private sector counterparts to the table as equals, working in unison to solve the challenges facing the nation," the website says.

"I'm glad for the corporations," Bandy said. "I don't have that much money." The corporate contributions make the conferences possible for lawmakers of modest means to attend, he said.

According to ALEC's website, legislators and other public officials pay $100 for a two-year membership. Dues for private sector members are between $7,000 and $25,000.

Bandy said the organization's States and Nation Policy Summit in Arizona late last year attracted a large group of protesters from the Occupy movement. The Arizona Republic reported that about 200 demonstrators showed up, some of whom said they wanted to call attention to the confluence of corporations and legislators. The Republic said corporate sponsors of the three-day conference included ExxonMobil, AT&T, Salt River Project, Altria, Novartis, Aetna and Freeport-McMoRan.

"I went out and talked to some of them," Bandy said of the demonstrators. "We had a good conversation. I actually agree with some of their issues."

State involvement

The state Legislature reimburses travel expenses for a handful of national organizations to which the Legislative Council pays dues. Among these are the National Council of State Legislatures, the Council of State Governments, the Energy Council and the National Council of Insurance Legislators.

The Legislature also will reimburse lawmakers for attending one out-of-state meeting of another public-policy organization, said John Yaeger, deputy director of the Legislative Council.

Last year, the Legislature paid for two members to attend ALEC's Arizona conference. These were Rep. Yvette Herrell, R-Alamogordo, and Sen. Clint Harden, R-Clovis, Yaeger said.

But others also attended, Payne said. Besides Payne and Bandy, these included Reps. Nate Gentry, R-Albuquerque, and Sen. Bill Burt, R-Alamogordo.

Payne currently is a co-chairman of the International Affairs Task Force. "We deal with state issues that involve international policy," he said. Such issues include how to deal with proposed military base closings, defense plants locating in states and homeland security.

Bandy serves on the Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force.

Payne said the reality is that in New Mexico, Democrats control the Legislature. Therefore, few conservative ideas, no matter where they came from, are destined to pass. ALEC, Payne said, doesn't have nearly the track record in New Mexico as does the Uniform Law Commission, a nonpartisan organization that also drafts model legislation.

But both sides agree that ALEC's influence could grow here if Republicans win enough seats in November to control the Legislature.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.