I was distressed to learn that a corporate front group has ghostwritten more than 50 bills that have been introduced in the Virginia legislature.
I was even more concerned to learn that this group, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), has been pushing a dangerous agenda across the country that includes efforts to make it harder for Americans to vote and encourage vigilante justice through "Stand Your Ground" laws.
In other model bills, ALEC favors privatizing education and disenfranchising American voters, while giving big corporations more influence in elections, using temporary legislative majorities to tie the hands of future legislators to raise taxes, and more.
In past weeks, 12 major companies have quit ALEC over their anti-middle-class agenda, and it's time Virginia lawmakers did the same.
Instead of passing off industry-written bills as their own work, our legislators should spend more time representing the interests of their constituents.
ALEC is too extreme for the likes of Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Intuit, and it's too extreme for me. I'll be waiting to see which Virginia legislators decide to quit ALEC and put Virginia families first.
Kay Pollock
Stafford