FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 4, 2015, 8:00 AM Contact: Kevin D. McGee, (907) 441-2137 NAACP Calls for Legislators to Cancel ALEC & AFP MembershipsLegislators shouldn't support Koch Brothers' sabotage of Medicaid expansion
ANCHORAGE: After revelations about the Koch Brothers' attempts to block Medicaid expansion in Alaska, the NAACP is calling on legislators to cancel their membership in ALEC, AFP, and other Koch Brothers astroturf groups. Legislators including Cathy Munoz, Wes Keller, Mia Costello, Anna MacKinnon, Bob Lynn, Doug Isaacson, Pete Kelly, and Charisse Millett are or have been members of ALEC. Pete Kelly's aide Bill Steuer attended multiple Koch-funded junkets at which Republican legislators strategized about how to block Medicaid expansion. "If the Koch Brothers are trying to block health care and economic opportunity for Alaskans, our legislators should withdraw their membership in Koch groups like ALEC and AFP," said Kevin McGee, First Vice President, Chairman, Political Action Committee of the Anchorage NAACP. ALEC does provide a full legislative membership list. Alaska legislators have provided conflicting accounts of whether or not they are ALEC members. Wes Keller has not tried to hide his membership, while Cathy Munoz claims she is no longer a member. Since ALEC appears to be the origin of numerous Alaska legislative bills ranging from voter ID to voucher tax credits, and since current or former ALEC members have championed these "model" bills”, it appears that ALEC retains substantial influence in the legislature. To reassure the public that legislators are not making secret deals with ALEC about sabotaging Medicaid, the NAACP is calling on all legislators to withdraw their ALEC membership or, if they have withdrawn their membership already, to confirm that they are not members. AFP is a newer Koch astroturf group in Alaska, and appears to be partnering with ALEC to block Medicaid expansion. ###
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 2, 2015, 8:00 AM Contact: Kevin D. McGee, (907) 441-2137 NAACP Condemns Koch Assault on Alaskans' Health Morally reprehensible for billionaires to sabotage health care for working Alaskans ANCHORAGE: Following revelations that the Koch Brothers are lobbying legislators to sabotage Medicaid expansion, the NAACP is condemning the Koch Brothers for their assault on Alaskans' health care and calling on the Koch Brothers to stop their anti-health care campaign. "It is immoral for billionaires to sabotage a basic human right such as healthcare for Alaskans” said Kevin McGee, First Vice President, Chairman, Political Action Committee of the Anchorage NAACP. "We are calling on the Koch Brothers to stop their assault on Alaskans' health. The Koch Brothers' group Americans for Prosperity has been distributing a detailed lobbying packet to some state legislators urging them to block Medicaid expansion. According to non-partisan studies in Alaska, Medicaid expansion as supported by the Walker/Mallott Administration would generate 4,000 jobs, $2.5 billion of economic activity, and provide health care for some 41,500 Alaskans. "We can't afford to let the Koch Brothers' agenda of layoffs, penury, and untreated illnesses get in the way of our economic prosperity in Alaska," said McGee. ### |