The American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC's) long history of influencing state legislators—sometimes even writing legislation for them—to pass laws and promote policies that advance a corporate profit agenda, and at times an extreme conservative agenda, is well documented.

Now a new report shows another group—led by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush—is following the ALEC blueprint in pushing state education policy backed by for-profit education corporations.

A new study of proposals from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) shows that policies the organization promotes do more to harm the economy than help it, despite the claims of the group's lead researcher and author, Arthur Laffer. States that are highly rated in ALEC's annual Rich States, Poor States report actually do worse economically than states ALEC rates poorly, according to Selling Snake Oil to the States, by Good Jobs First.

Here’s a look at a number of other key working-family races and ballot issues from yesterday’s elections.

In several U.S. Senate races where Republican, corporate and super PAC cash looked like it would make the difference, union members’ get-out-the-vote activism and votes helped push working-family candidates to victory. Democrats now have 55 senate seats. Elizabeth Warren defeated Sen. Scott Brown in Massachusetts. Tim Kaine beat George Allen in Virginia. Rep. Tammy Baldwin overcame Tommy Thompson in Wisconsin, Sen. Jon Tester defeated challenger Rep. Denny Rehberg in Montana and Sen. Sherrod Brown won over Josh Mandel in Ohio. Other Senate wins include Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.). 

Communications giant Clear Channel—bought by Mitt Romney’s former firm Bain Capital in 2008—continues to refuse to take down billboards in Ohio and Wisconsin that voting rights experts say have just one purpose: to intimidate and suppress the African American and Latino vote in those two states. Those votes could mean the difference between President Obama winning re-election or Mitt Romney taking the White House.       

Sign a petition from Color of Change to Clear Channel demanding that it take down the billboards.

Starting this weekend on PBS stations across the country, Moyers and Company will air “United States of ALEC.” (Find the date and airtime in your area.) The American Legislative Exchange Council describes itself as a “nonpartisan public-private partnership.” But “United States of ALEC” finds that:

Behind that mantra lies a vast network of corporate lobbying and political action aimed to increase corporate profits at public expense without public knowledge.

Approximately 10 million Latino voters could be disenfranchised thanks to new voting barriers enacted by legislatures and elected leaders in more than 20 states, according to an Advancement Project study released Monday.

The deluge of state-level voting restrictions passed in recent years has placed higher burdens on voters, even ones that already are registered in states like Pennsylvania. The Advancement Project study looks at requirements to prove citizenship and strict voter ID laws and how those affect Latino voters and people of color. 

Voter ID laws are real threats to our democracy.

Join us at the AFL-CIO to discuss Tova Andrea Wang's book, The Politics of Voter Suppression: Defending and Expanding Americans' Right to Vote, Wednesday, Sept. 19, at 1 p.m. Wang, a senior democracy fellow at Demos, says today's voter suppression tactics have roots going back a century and a half and pose a serious threat to the democratic process. 

RSVP here. 

When it comes to voter registration and education, there is no place more critical in 2012 than the key swing state of Pennsylvania. Members of the AFT Pennsylvania (AFT-PA) are playing a big role in making sure voters are ready and able to cast ballots in the Keystone State.

In addition to a long list of their own activities, AFT-PA is participating in a “My Vote, My Right” event on Sept. 18, where the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) will join AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker and members of unions, community and voting rights groups outside the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) office in downtown Pittsburgh to help people obtain voter ID cards and register to vote. Another "My Vote, My Right" event will be held in Philadelphia on Sept. 22 at the Department of Motor Vehicle office in the Oxford Levick Shopping Center at 919-B Levick St.

We’ve traced the fingerprints of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to the growing voter suppression efforts in more than a dozen states under Republican control in recent election season blog posts. But don’t forget that the extremist, corporate-backed ALEC is attacking working families on many fronts. A new report from In the Public Interest tracks ALEC’s footprints down the path of privatization.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear arguments Thursday against the state’s voter suppression law that Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R) said “is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania.” Some estimate could disenfranchise nearly one in 10 eligible voters—mostly people of color, students, seniors and low-income voters.