At the American Legislative Exchange Council’s annual meeting last week in Salt Lake City, all eyes were on the keynote speakers — high-profile governors from across the nation.
State and local policymakers from across the country trawling the vendor booths received far less attention.
At ALEC, a national conservative organization that’s been criticized for matchmaking state and local policymakers with corporate interests, you will find a few speciality government software providers staffing tables, but mostly people are there to sell ideas. Legislation. From opponents of human trafficking to proponents of legalizing sex trade, leading conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and fresh local upstarts such as Utah’s own libertarian Libertas Institute.
“My team loved the event, we thought it was great,” said Libertas Institute Executive Vice President Michael Melendez, who explained that Libertas was there not to focus on “legacy” issues like abortion and education, but new fields. “For us, it’s all about what are the gaps in the policy market?”
— source The Salt Lake Tribune | Luke Peterson | Aug. 9, 2021