The right-wing Koch brothers-funded and corporate-backed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) created the battle plans behind state level legislation in more than two dozen states to strip public employees of the right to bargain for a better life, cripple their unions and privatize public services, according to a new investigative report by Beau Hodai at In These Times.

ALEC’s 501(c) (3) tax-exempt status strictly prohibits nonprofits like ALEC from taking part in the formation of legislation, but through legislators’ own files, obtained by public records requests, Hodai confirms for the first time exactly how ALEC provides “model legislation” to lawmakers.

These model bills, written by ALEC’s corporate members, are then used as the basis for drafting bills that aim to strip public employee unions of their ability to support political candidates, or even to collect dues at all—and that aim ultimately to privatize most functions of government. Writes Hodai:

An exhaustive analysis of thousands of pages of documents obtained through public records requests from six states, as well as tax filings, lobby reports, legislative drafts and court records, reveal that these suddenly popular anti-public employee bills, while taking different forms from state to state, were indeed disseminated as “model legislation” by ALEC.

With public-sector unions denatured, they would no longer be able to stand in the way of radical free marketeers who plan to profit from the privatization of public services.

What’s the bounty for ALEC’s corporate members? Hodai explains:

ALEC openly advocates privatizing public education, transportation and the regulation of public health, consumer safety and environmental quality, including bringing in corporations to administer:

• Foster care, adoption services and child support payment processing.

• School support services such as cafeteria meals, custodial staff and transportation.

• Highway systems, with toll roads presented as a shining example.

• Surveiling and detaining convicted criminals.

• Ensuring the quality of wastewater treatment, drinking water and solid waste services and facilities. (After all, when someone mentions a safe and secure public water supply, the voter’s next immediate thought is: “Only if it’s cost-effective!”)

Click here for the full story at In These in Times and here for detailed background information about ALEC from SourceWatch.