ALEC Founded to Move Corporate Bills Through State Legislatures

Paul Weyrich, Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), and Reagan 1968 campaign aide Lou Barnett co-founded the American Legislative Exchange Council in Chicago in September 1973. The group, initially called the Conservative Caucus of State Legislators, paired corporate lobbyists with state lawmakers to draft model bills. Weyrich had also co-founded the Heritage Foundation seven months earlier, linking the new state-level operation to the emerging national conservative infrastructure.