GPS RESEARCH LIBRARY: The Model State — ALEC and the Georgia General Assembly ============================================================ Georgia Prisoners' Speak — gps.press Generated: 2026-07-28 03:40:55 EDT Research Date: 2026-07-26 Topic: Legislation/Policy Origin JSON: https://gps.press/research-data/the-model-state-alec-and-the-georgia-general-assembly/?format=json SUMMARY ---------------------------------------- This document provides a strategic research framework for investigating the influence of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and private corrections vendors on Georgia's criminal justice system. It identifies a well-sourced nexus between ALEC, private prison operators (CoreCivic, GEO Group), and telecom vendors (Securus), while also detailing a significant accountability gap created by the Georgia Court of Appeals' ruling in Institute for Justice v. Reilly, which exempts the General Assembly from the Open Records Act. The analysis recommends a phased action plan focusing on open-records requests to executive agencies, building a legislative text-similarity pipeline, and rigorously distinguishing between documented facts and unverified allegations to construct a defensible, evidence-based narrative. STATISTICS (18) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] ALEC FY2024 Total Revenue The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) reported total revenue of $10,918,816 for fiscal year 2024. Value: 10918816.0 USD Date: 2024-01-01 Tags: policy,budget Sources: American Legislative Exchange Council — Form 990 FY2024 and FY2023 board roster - [confirmed] ALEC FY2024 Contributions as Percentage of Revenue Contributions of $9,508,430 constituted 87.1% of ALEC's total revenue in FY2024. Value: 87.1 percent Date: 2024-01-01 Tags: policy,budget Sources: American Legislative Exchange Council — Form 990 FY2024 and FY2023 board roster - [confirmed] ALEC CEO Compensation FY2024 ALEC CEO Lisa B. Nelson received $507,409 in compensation in FY2024, with an additional $20,380 in other compensation. Value: 507409.0 USD Date: 2024-01-01 Tags: policy,budget Sources: American Legislative Exchange Council — Form 990 FY2024 and FY2023 board roster - [confirmed] ALEC FY2023 Total Revenue ALEC reported total revenue of $11,289,177 for fiscal year 2023. Value: 11289177.0 USD Date: 2023-01-01 Tags: policy,budget Sources: American Legislative Exchange Council — Form 990 FY2024 and FY2023 board roster - [estimated] Estimated ALEC Corporate-Funded Travel for Legislators 2006-2012 A 2012 report by the Center for Media and Democracy, Common Cause, and DBA Press estimated that ALEC's corporate backers funneled more than an estimated $4 million in gifts to state legislators for travel, hotel rooms, and meals at resorts since 2006. Value: 4000000.0 USD Tags: policy,budget,operations Sources: Groups Charge ALEC With Tax Fraud Over Secretive 'Scholarship' Fund - [estimated] Estimated Annual ALEC Spending on Legislator Trips 2006-2008 In the 2006–2008 period, ALEC was spending about $600,000 annually on trips for state legislators, according to a 2012 report based on internal ALEC records. Value: 600000.0 USD Tags: policy,budget,operations Sources: Groups Charge ALEC With Tax Fraud Over Secretive 'Scholarship' Fund - [reported] Number of ALEC Model Bills Leaked in 2011 On July 13, 2011, the Center for Media and Democracy and The Nation published more than 800 ALEC model bills and resolutions. Value: 800.0 model bills Date: 2011-07-13 Tags: policy,legal Sources: About ALEC Exposed - [reported] ALEC lost almost 400 state legislators and over 60 corporate members by 2013 The Guardian (December 6, 2013), citing internal ALEC records, reported that ALEC had lost almost 400 state legislators from its membership over the previous two years, as well as more than 60 corporations forming the core of its funding. Value: 400.0 legislators Tags: operations,policy Sources: The Guardian (December 6, 2013) - [reported] Number of Copycat Bills Found in USA TODAY/CPI Investigation The 'Copy, Paste, Legislate' investigation found at least 10,000 copycat bills introduced in state legislatures, of which more than 2,100 were enacted. Value: 10000.0 bills Tags: policy,legal Sources: How we uncovered 10,000 times lawmakers introduced copycat model bills - [reported] Number of Enacted Copycat Bills Found in USA TODAY/CPI Investigation The 'Copy, Paste, Legislate' investigation found more than 2,100 copycat bills were enacted into law. Value: 2100.0 bills Tags: policy,legal Sources: How we uncovered 10,000 times lawmakers introduced copycat model bills - [reported] ALEC corporate members fell from a 2011 peak of 280 to 214 The Guardian reported that ALEC's corporate members had fallen from a 2011 peak of 280 to 214. Value: 214.0 corporate members (vs. 280 2011 peak) Date: 2013-01-01 Tags: operations,policy Sources: The Guardian (December 6, 2013) - [reported] Number of Model Legislation Pieces in University of Chicago Dataset The University of Chicago Data Science for Social Good 'policy_diffusion' repository collected approximately 2,400 pieces of model legislation from five groups including ALEC. Value: 2400.0 model legislation pieces Date: 2016-01-01 Tags: policy,legal Sources: The Legislative Influence Detector: Finding Text Reuse in State Legislation - [reported] Number of Bill-to-Bill Reuse Instances Found by LID The Legislative Influence Detector (LID) project found 45,405 bill-to-bill reuse instances. Value: 45405.0 reuse instances Date: 2016-01-01 Tags: policy,legal Sources: The Legislative Influence Detector: Finding Text Reuse in State Legislation - [reported] Number of Model-Legislation-to-Bill Reuse Instances Found by LID The Legislative Influence Detector (LID) project found 14,137 model-legislation-to-bill reuse instances. Value: 14137.0 reuse instances Date: 2016-01-01 Tags: policy,legal Sources: The Legislative Influence Detector: Finding Text Reuse in State Legislation - [reported] Georgia private prisons cost approximately 10 percent more per day than state prisons The Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts FY2018 audit found that when controlling for an offender's sex, facility size, and risk classification, state prisons run about $44.56 per offender per day while private prisons run around $49.07 per day per offender — private prisons costing approximately 10 percent more. Value: 49.07 dollars per day per offender (vs. 44.56 state prison cost per day per offender) Date: 2018-01-01 Tags: budget,facilities,operations Sources: Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts FY2018 audit - [reported] Georgia pays CoreCivic and GEO Group approximately $140 million annually for roughly 7,800 inmates GDC's four private prisons house roughly 7,800 inmates, about 15 percent of the total population, for which the state pays CoreCivic and GEO Group a collective approximately $140 million annually. Value: 140000000.0 dollars annually Date: 2018-01-01 Tags: budget,facilities,operations Sources: Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts FY2018 audit - [confirmed] FY2026 budget increases per-diem funding for private prisons The Governor's FY2026 budget (HB 68) increased per-diem funding by facility as follows: Coffee plus $3,033,827; Wheeler plus $3,208,871; Jenkins plus $3,654,586; Riverbend plus $3,750,000. Value: 13647284.0 dollars total increase Date: 2026-01-01 Tags: budget,facilities Sources: HB 68 (FY2026) Criminal Justice and Public Safety budget, Georgia General Assembly - [reported] GDC food service appears to be state-run at approximately 60 cents per meal The Marshall Project (2026) reported that the Georgia corrections department's food system is state-run, at approximately 60 cents per meal. Value: 0.6 dollars per meal Date: 2026-01-01 Tags: operations,budget,conditions Sources: The Marshall Project (2026) FINDINGS (30) ---------------------------------------- - [reported] CCA/CoreCivic co-chaired ALEC's Criminal Justice Task Force in early 1990s Corrections Corporation of America (CCA, now CoreCivic) co-chaired ALEC's Criminal Justice Task Force in the early 1990s, per In These Times reporting by Beau Hodai (2010). Tags: operations,policy,investigations Sources: In These Times reporting by Beau Hodai (2010) - [reported] CCA/CoreCivic left ALEC in late 2010 or 2011 Per ALEC Exposed (Center for Media and Democracy), CCA left ALEC in late 2010 after years of membership on the Criminal Justice Task Force. Prison Legal News states that CCA reportedly left the organization in 2011. Tags: operations,policy Sources: ALEC Exposed (Center for Media and Democracy); Prison Legal News - [reported] CCA and CoreCivic have denied lobbying for harsher sentencing CCA and CoreCivic have denied lobbying for harsher sentencing. Tags: policy,operations Sources: In These Times reporting by Beau Hodai (2010) - [reported] GEO Group was a member of ALEC's crime task force during the 1990s GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut Corrections) was a member of ALEC's crime task force during the 1990s truth-in-sentencing and three-strikes push. It departed amid the 2011–2013 exodus. Tags: operations,policy Sources: In These Times reporting by Beau Hodai (2010) - [reported] American Bail Coalition is an executive member of ALEC's Public Safety and Elections Task Force The American Bail Coalition is an executive member of the Public Safety and Elections Task Force and remains central to ALEC, with its representative listed as ALEC's 2026 National Chairman on ALEC's leadership page. Date: 2026-01-01 Tags: operations,policy Sources: ALEC leadership page - [reported] ALEC disbanded the Public Safety and Elections Task Force in April 2012 ALEC disbanded the Public Safety and Elections Task Force in April 2012 following the Trayvon Martin and 'Stand Your Ground' boycott. Date: 2012-04-01 Tags: operations,policy Sources: PR Watch (Center for Media and Democracy), April 2012 - [reported] ALEC suffered a budget hole of more than a third of projected income in first half of 2013 The Guardian (December 6, 2013) reported that in the first six months of 2013 ALEC suffered a budget hole of more than a third of its projected income. Date: 2013-01-01 Tags: operations,budget Sources: The Guardian (December 6, 2013) - [confirmed] CoreCivic operates three Georgia facilities: Coffee, Wheeler, and Jenkins CoreCivic operates three Georgia facilities: Coffee Correctional Facility (Nicholls; opened 1998; approximately 2,900 to 3,032 beds), Wheeler Correctional Facility (Alamo; opened 1998; approximately 2,874 beds), and Jenkins Correctional Center (Millen; contracted September 2010, opened March 2012). Tags: facilities,operations Sources: Private Prisons, Georgia Department of Corrections - [confirmed] GEO Group operates one Georgia facility: Riverbend Correctional Facility GEO Group operates one facility in Georgia: Riverbend Correctional Facility. Tags: facilities,operations Sources: Private Prisons, Georgia Department of Corrections - [confirmed] D. Ray James facility exited the Georgia state continuum and is now a federal facility D. Ray James (Folkston), built and operated by Cornell Companies, Inc. under a 1997 contract, has since exited the state continuum and is now a federal facility. Tags: facilities,operations Sources: Private Prisons, Georgia Department of Corrections - [confirmed] Georgia ALEC State Chairs in 2026 As of 2026, ALEC's official State Chairs page lists Rep. John Carson and Rep. Soo Hong as the two Georgia state chairs. Date: 2026-01-01 Tags: policy,operations Sources: State Chairs - [confirmed] John Carson on ALEC National Board of Directors Rep. John Carson sits on ALEC's national Board of Directors, confirmed by ALEC's May 2024 board roster and IRS Form 990 filings for FY2023 and FY2024. Tags: policy,operations Sources: American Legislative Exchange Council — Form 990 FY2024 and FY2023 board roster - [reported] GEO Group disputed the FY2018 audit methodology GEO Group disputed the audit methodology of the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts FY2018 audit. Date: 2018-01-01 Tags: budget,operations Sources: Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts FY2018 audit - [confirmed] GDC's inmate telecom vendor is Securus (Aventiv) GDC's original inmate-phone contract with Securus dates to September 21, 2016, with a First Amendment effective January 1, 2017. GDC received a $4 million one-time incentive and a 59.6 percent commission on call revenue, subject to a $325,000 per month floor, with calls at approximately 13 cents per minute, or approximately $1.95 per 15-minute call. The commission yields roughly $8 million per year to GDC. Tags: operations,budget,policy Sources: Georgia DOC — Securus Contract Amendment 2017–2021, Prison Phone Justice - [reported] Statewide package vendor is reported as Union Supply Group The statewide package vendor is reported, on secondary sourcing, as Union Supply Group. Keefe Group and TKC Holdings appear at the Georgia county-jail level but are NOT confirmed as the statewide GDC vendor. Tags: operations,contraband Sources: GPS original analysis - [reported] ALEC Scholarship Travel May Fall Outside Georgia Lobbyist Reporting If ALEC, a 501(c)(3) 'educational' organization and not a registered lobbyist principal, pays a Georgia legislator's travel via a 'scholarship,' that payment may fall outside the lobbyist-expenditure reporting regime entirely, because it is not routed through a registered lobbyist and ALEC does not register as a principal. Tags: legal,policy,budget,operations Sources: Lobbyist Reporting; Georgia Ethics Agencies report - [reported] CoreCivic Historical Role in ALEC Criminal Justice Task Force CoreCivic (then Corrections Corporation of America) co-chaired ALEC's Criminal Justice Task Force in the early 1990s and left in late 2010. Tags: policy,operations,corrections - [reported] ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force Disbanded ALEC's Public Safety and Elections Task Force disbanded in April 2012. Date: 2012-04-01 Tags: policy,operations - [confirmed] Chief Judge McFadden dissented in Institute for Justice v. Reilly Chief Judge McFadden dissented, arguing that the phrase 'every state office' is clear and unmistakable. Date: 2019-01-01 Tags: legal,policy Sources: Institute for Justice v. Reilly, 351 Ga. App. 317 (2019) - [reported] Georgia's 1994 Sentencing Law Predates Leaked ALEC Corpus Georgia's foundational sentencing statutes, the 'seven deadly sins' (O.C.G.A. § 17-10-6.1) and two-strikes law (O.C.G.A. § 17-10-7), enacted in 1994, predate the leaked ALEC model-bill corpus and cannot currently be shown to be textual copies of an ALEC model. Date: 1994-01-01 Tags: legal,policy,sentencing Sources: Georgia Code § 17-10-6.1 (2022) - [reported] Georgia HB 87 Modeled on Arizona SB 1070 Georgia HB 87 (2011), the Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act, was explicitly modeled on Arizona's SB 1070, which is the most strongly documented ALEC-linked bill in the country. Date: 2011-01-01 Tags: legal,policy,immigration Sources: Georgia House Bill 87 - [confirmed] Georgia is a 'hard-shield' state for legislative open records This makes Georgia a hard-shield state, closer to the failure end of the spectrum, where ALEC-related legislator record requests have failed because the legislature is exempt from public-records law. Tags: legal,policy,investigations Sources: Institute for Justice v. Reilly, 351 Ga. App. 317 (2019) - [reported] ALEC Created 501(c)(4) Jeffersonian Project in 2013 ALEC created a 501(c)(4) lobbying arm, the Jeffersonian Project, in 2013 in direct response to the Common Cause and Center for Media and Democracy complaints. Date: 2013-01-01 Tags: policy,operations,legal Sources: Groups Charge ALEC With Tax Fraud Over Secretive 'Scholarship' Fund - [reported] ALEC's criminal-justice work migrated to a Justice Performance Project after 2012 After the April 2012 disbanding of the Public Safety and Elections Task Force, criminal-justice work migrated to a Justice Performance Project and later to a standalone Criminal Justice task force, which ALEC's current site lists among its task forces. Date: 2012-01-01 Tags: operations,policy Sources: ALEC's Impact on Criminal Justice Reform, American Legislative Exchange Council - [reported] ALEC claims the FIRST STEP Act was driven by its members ALEC's website states that the historic FIRST STEP Act was driven by ALEC members, and CEO Lisa Nelson said ALEC took all of the positive policy that came out of the states and brought it to Washington. Date: 2018-01-01 Tags: policy,legal Sources: ALEC's Impact on Criminal Justice Reform, American Legislative Exchange Council - [reported] Independent accounts credit First Step Act to a broad bipartisan coalition, not ALEC specifically Independent accounts, including the Brennan Center for Justice and the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy, credit the First Step Act (2018) to a broad bipartisan coalition years in the making. ALEC's claim is best characterized as partially supported but self-aggrandizing. Date: 2018-01-01 Tags: policy,legal Sources: What Is the First Step Act — And What's Happening With It?, Brennan Center for Justice - [confirmed] Georgia's 2011–2016 reforms were driven by the Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform Georgia's 2011–2016 reforms under Gov. Nathan Deal were driven by the Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform, created in 2011, with technical assistance from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Texas Public Policy Foundation and its Right on Crime initiative, and the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. Tags: policy,reentry,parole Sources: Report of the Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform, February 2015, Georgia Department of Community Supervision - [reported] Georgia Public Policy Foundation is a State Policy Network member The Georgia Public Policy Foundation is a State Policy Network member and publicly promoted the 'smart on crime' reforms. It is the most plausible in-state ALEC-adjacent organization. Tags: operations,policy Sources: Tough on Crime, Smart on Criminal Justice Spending, Georgia Public Policy Foundation - [reported] Common Cause IRS complaint against ALEC remains unadjudicated The Common Cause IRS complaint remains unadjudicated. Tags: investigations,legal Sources: GPS original analysis - [disputed] Bruce Thompson 2015 Savannah meals allegation is unproven The Bruce Thompson 2015 Savannah meals allegation is unproven. Date: 2015-01-01 Tags: investigations Sources: GPS original analysis METHODOLOGY NOTES (5) ---------------------------------------- - [reported] Bill Similarity Score Threshold for 'Copy, Paste, Legislate' The 'Copy, Paste, Legislate' investigation only cited bills scoring 80 or above on a 100-point similarity scale as containing substantial amounts of duplicated text. Date: 2019-01-01 Tags: policy,legal Sources: How we uncovered 10,000 times lawmakers introduced copycat model bills - [confirmed] Smith-Waterman Algorithm Used for Bill Similarity Detection Both the USA TODAY/CPI 'Copy, Paste, Legislate' investigation and the University of Chicago's Legislative Influence Detector used the Smith-Waterman local alignment algorithm to detect text reuse in legislation. Date: 2019-01-01 Tags: policy,legal,methodology Sources: How we uncovered 10,000 times lawmakers introduced copycat model bills; The Legislative Influence Detector: Finding Text Reuse in State Legislation - [reported] Methodology: 'Copy, Paste, Legislate' threshold of 80 on 100-point scale for text similarity The project should adopt the 'Copy, Paste, Legislate' threshold of 80 or above on a 100-point scale for legislative text similarity, cite only above it, apply human review, and explicitly disclose the shared-ideology confound. Tags: investigations,policy Sources: Copy, paste, legislate — data and methods, Investigate.ai (USA TODAY Network tutorial) - [confirmed] Falsification criteria for core thesis defined What would falsify the core thesis: (a) the similarity pipeline finds no match scoring 80 or above between any Georgia statute and any dated ALEC model; (b) open-records responses show no GDC, Board of Corrections, Board of Pardons and Paroles, or Prosecuting Attorneys' Council personnel ever attended ALEC events; and (c) the lobbyist registry shows ALEC never registered, and no scholarship reimbursement to a Georgia legislator can be documented. Tags: investigations,policy Sources: GPS original analysis - [confirmed] Georgia's foundational 1994 sentencing laws predate the leaked ALEC corpus Georgia's foundational sentencing laws, enacted in 1994, predate the leaked ALEC corpus and cannot presently be shown to be textual copies. Do not assert that ALEC wrote any Georgia statute without a text match. Date: 1994-01-01 Tags: legal,policy,investigations Sources: GPS original analysis DATA GAPS (7) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] Data gap: No direct ALEC task-force membership surfaced for most healthcare, food, and commissary firms The record confirms ALEC's sector ties in private prisons and bail, but did NOT surface direct ALEC task-force membership for most healthcare, food, and commissary firms. This is a data gap that should not be overstated. Tags: operations,medical,contraband Sources: GPS original analysis - [confirmed] Data gap: Current renewed Securus contract terms require an open records request The current renewed contract's exact terms require a Georgia Open Records Act request to GDC. Tags: operations,budget Sources: GPS original analysis - [confirmed] Data gap: Statewide GDC food or commissary vendor not confirmed as Keefe, Trinity, or Aramark The claim that Keefe, Trinity Services Group, or Aramark holds the statewide GDC food or commissary contract is NOT supported by the current record and must be verified by open-records request. Tags: operations,contraband Sources: GPS original analysis - [reported] No Record of ALEC Registering as Lobbyist Principal in Georgia No record was found of ALEC registering as a lobbyist principal in Georgia; its 501(c)(3) educational posture is the stated basis for not doing so. Tags: legal,policy,operations - [reported] No Documentation of GDC Personnel at ALEC Events No documentation was found placing Georgia Department of Corrections, Georgia Board of Corrections, Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, or Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia personnel at ALEC events or on ALEC task forces. Tags: policy,operations,corrections - [confirmed] Pre-2001 Georgia Bills Not Machine-Readable Pre-2001 and pre-1990 Georgia legislative sessions, including the pivotal 1994 Sentence Reform Act, are effectively not machine-readable, existing as scanned PDFs, bound session laws, and microfiche. Date: 1994-01-01 Tags: legal,policy,methodology Sources: Bill Tracking and Legislative History — Georgia Legal Research - [confirmed] Data gap: No specific enacted model-bill-disclosure statute cited as drafting precedent The record did not surface a specific enacted model-bill-disclosure statute to cite as drafting precedent. The project should locate, as candidate precedents, transparency bills requiring legislators to disclose the origin of introduced bills or to report third-party-funded travel. Tags: legal,policy,investigations Sources: GPS original analysis QUOTES (2) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] Chip Rogers' ALEC Role Confirmed on Camera Former Sen. Chip Rogers confirmed his ALEC role on camera to CBS News, stating that legislators pay '$50 a year' to belong. Date: 2011-01-01 Tags: policy,operations Sources: Who is ALEC? - [reported] ALEC has consistently responded that taking policy positions is not lobbying ALEC has consistently responded that taking policy positions is not lobbying — a statement from ALEC's Raegan Weber to ProPublica in 2011 — and that a model bill works through the very public legislative process afterward. Date: 2011-01-01 Tags: policy,operations Sources: A Discreet Nonprofit Brings Together Politicians and Corporations to Write 'Model Bills', ProPublica, 2011 LEGAL FACTS (14) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] Georgia General Assembly Exempt from Open Records Act The Georgia General Assembly and its offices are exempt from the Open Records Act per Institute for Justice v. Reilly, 351 Ga. App. 317 (2019). Date: 2019-01-01 Tags: legal,policy - [confirmed] Legislative Counsel Drafting Communications Exempt from Disclosure Legislative Counsel drafting communications are separately exempt from disclosure under O.C.G.A. § 28-4-3.1. Tags: legal,policy - [reported] ALEC's 501(c)(3) Status and IRS Whistleblower Complaint ALEC remains a 501(c)(3) organization and is the subject of a still-unresolved Common Cause / Center for Media and Democracy IRS whistleblower complaint filed in 2012 and supplemented in 2013, 2015, and 2016, centered on its corporate-funded 'scholarship' travel fund. Tags: legal,policy,operations Sources: ALEC Whistleblower Complaint - [confirmed] Georgia Lobbyist Expenditure Reporting Requirement Lobbyists must file expenditure disclosures via the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission's electronic filing system under O.C.G.A. § 21-5-73, naming the public officer benefited. Tags: legal,policy,budget Sources: Lobbyist Reporting - [confirmed] Georgia Public Officer Lobbyist Expenditure Ban Since a 2013 ethics law, public officers may not accept lobbyist expenditures, subject to enumerated exceptions under O.C.G.A. § 21-5-72.1. Date: 2013-01-01 Tags: legal,policy,budget Sources: Georgia Ethics Agencies report - [confirmed] Georgia Legislator Financial Disclosures Do Not Require Gift Disclosure Legislator annual financial disclosures do NOT require disclosure of gifts and do not include client names, per O.C.G.A. § 21-5-50(b). Tags: legal,policy,budget Sources: Georgia Ethics Agencies report - [confirmed] Georgia Gift Definition Threshold The 'gift' definition in Georgia applies only to transfers over $100, per O.C.G.A. § 21-5-3(14). Tags: legal,policy,budget Sources: Georgia Ethics Agencies report - [confirmed] Martha Wright-Reed Act signed January 5, 2023 The Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act was signed January 5, 2023 (Public Law 117-338). Date: 2023-01-05 Tags: legal,policy,operations Sources: Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act (Public Law 117-338) - [confirmed] FCC rate-cap order capped prison phone rates at 6 cents per minute effective January 1, 2025 The rate-cap order FCC 24-75 was adopted July 18, 2024 and released July 22, 2024 in WC Docket 23-62, capping prison phone rates at 6 cents per minute effective January 1, 2025 for prisons and large jails and April 1, 2025 for smaller jails, and banning site commissions. Tags: legal,policy,operations Sources: FCC 24-75 rate-cap order - [confirmed] FCC waiver postponed IPCS compliance deadlines to April 1, 2027 On June 30, 2025, the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau issued waiver order DA 25-565 postponing compliance to April 1, 2027 — an up-to-two-year delay announced by Chairman Brendan Carr, with Commissioner Anna Gomez dissenting. Date: 2025-06-30 Tags: legal,policy,operations Sources: WCB Waives IPCS Compliance Deadlines, DA 25-565, Federal Communications Commission, June 30, 2025 - [confirmed] Georgia Court of Appeals held General Assembly exempt from Open Records Act In Institute for Justice v. Reilly, 351 Ga. App. 317, 830 S.E.2d 793 (2019), the Georgia Court of Appeals held, by a 2-1 vote, that the General Assembly and all its related offices are not subject to the Open Records Act. Date: 2019-01-01 Tags: legal,policy,investigations Sources: Institute for Justice v. Reilly, 351 Ga. App. 317 (2019) - [confirmed] O.C.G.A. § 28-4-3.1 exempts communications between Legislative Counsel and legislators O.C.G.A. § 28-4-3.1 exempts communications between the Office of Legislative Counsel and legislators from the Open Records Act. Tags: legal,policy Sources: O.C.G.A. § 28-4-3.1 - [confirmed] O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72(a)(12) exempts staff-service records of individual members O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72(a)(12) exempts staff-service records of individual members from the Open Records Act. Tags: legal,policy Sources: O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72(a)(12) - [confirmed] HB 1176 (2012) passed unanimously and was signed May 2, 2012 The landmark HB 1176 (2012), sponsored by Rep. Rich Golick, passed unanimously and was signed May 2, 2012. Date: 2012-05-02 Tags: legal,policy,reentry Sources: Justice Reform: Georgia's Bipartisan Cinderella Story, Right on Crime CASE DETAILS (1) ---------------------------------------- - [reported] Brendan Keefe ejected from Savannah ALEC meeting in 2015 Brendan Keefe, a reporter for WXIA / 11Alive, was ejected from the Savannah ALEC meeting while investigating 'A charity for lawmakers? ALEC feeds them bills,' which aired July 2, 2015. Date: 2015-07-02 Tags: investigations,operations Sources: Brendan Keefe, 'A charity for lawmakers? ALEC feeds them bills,' WXIA / 11Alive, July 2, 2015 DATASETS (2) ---------------------------------------- # ALEC IRS Form 990 Financial Data (FY2023-FY2024) Key financial figures extracted from ALEC's IRS Form 990 filings for fiscal years 2023 and 2024. Metric FY2024 FY2023 -------------------------------------------------- Total Revenue 10918816 11289177 Total Expenses 10637140 11218844 Net Income 281676 70333 Net Assets 7389054 7110526 Contributions 9508430 9913510 Program Services Revenue 1364159 Investment Income 42065 Executive Compensation Total 1078245 965054 CEO Lisa Nelson Compensation 507409 433318 # FY2026 Private Prison Per-Diem Funding Increases Increases in per-diem funding for Georgia's four private prisons as specified in the Governor's FY2026 budget (HB 68). Facility Funding Increase --------------------------------------------------- Coffee Correctional Facility 3033827 Wheeler Correctional Facility 3208871 Jenkins Correctional Center 3654586 Riverbend Correctional Facility 3750000 KEY ENTITIES (35) ---------------------------------------- - ALEC [organization]: Conservative organization that passed a 2019 Model Resolution urging states to ensure proportionality between plea and trial sentences, demonstrating bipartisan support for trial penalty reform. (aka: American Legislative Exchange Council) - American Bail Coalition [organization]: An executive member of ALEC's Public Safety and Elections Task Force. - Brendan Keefe [person]: A WXIA / 11Alive reporter who was ejected from a 2015 ALEC meeting in Savannah. - Bruce Thompson [person]: Subject of an unproven allegation regarding meals at a 2015 ALEC meeting. - Center for Media and Democracy [organization]: A watchdog group that published the 'ALEC Exposed' documents and co-filed an IRS complaint against ALEC. - Chip Rogers [person]: Former Georgia State Senator identified as a past ALEC Georgia State Chairman and national treasurer. (aka: Sen. Chip Rogers) - Coffee Correctional Facility [facility]: A CoreCivic-operated private prison in Nicholls, Georgia, opened in 1998. - Common Cause [organization]: A nonpartisan watchdog group that filed an IRS whistleblower complaint against ALEC. - CoreCivic [organization]: Private prison company that owns and operates select prison facilities in Georgia under contract with GDC. - D. Ray James Correctional Facility [facility]: A former private prison in Folkston, Georgia, now a federal facility. - Federal Communications Commission [organization]: Federal agency with authority over prison communications rates under the Martha Wright-Reed Act; implemented rate caps in 2024 that were suspended under new Republican majority in 2025 (aka: FCC) - GDC [organization]: Georgia state corrections department operating 12 reentry centers with 2,344 beds and various cognitive programming initiatives. (aka: Georgia Department of Corrections, Georgia DOC) - GEO Group [organization]: Private prison company that owns and operates select prison facilities in Georgia under contract with GDC. (aka: GEO Group, Inc.) - Georgia Board of Corrections [organization]: Governing board that issues rules for Georgia prison operations, including Rule 125-4-2-.08 (Library) and Rule 125-2-4-.17 - Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles [organization]: Georgia's parole authority, operates reentry services including Reentry Partnership Housing (RPH) - Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform [organization]: Reform body created under Governor Nathan Deal in 2013 that was a national model for evidence-based reform; influence waned after Deal left office in 2019 - Georgia Department of Corrections [organization]: State agency responsible for operating Georgia's prison system. Subject of federal DOJ investigation in 2022-2023 for constitutional violations including food-related deaths. (aka: GDC) - Georgia General Assembly [organization]: Georgia state legislature. Has not advanced legislation to address prison labor compensation or remove the state's slavery exception. A two-thirds vote in both chambers would be required to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. - Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission [organization]: The Georgia state agency that administers lobbyist and campaign finance disclosure laws. (aka: State Ethics Commission) - Georgia Public Policy Foundation [organization]: A State Policy Network member and in-state think tank that promoted 'smart on crime' reforms. - HB 1176 [legislation]: 2012 Georgia legislation expanding accountability courts and capping probation terms as part of Governor Deal's criminal justice reform (aka: Governor Deal's criminal justice reform package) - HB 87 [legislation]: A 2011 Georgia immigration law modeled on Arizona's SB 1070. (aka: Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act) - IRS [organization]: The U.S. federal agency responsible for tax collection and enforcement of tax laws, including oversight of 501(c)(3) organizations. (aka: Internal Revenue Service) - Jeffersonian Project [organization]: A 501(c)(4) lobbying arm created by ALEC in 2013. - Jenkins Correctional Center [facility]: Private prison facility in Georgia that received $1,055,658 increase for bed utilization in FY2027. (aka: Jenkins) - John Carson [person]: Georgia State Representative for House District 46, ALEC State Chair, and member of ALEC's national Board of Directors. (aka: Rep. John Carson) - Lisa B. Nelson [person]: CEO of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). (aka: Lisa Nelson) - Rich Golick [person]: Former Georgia state representative who sponsored HB 1176 and co-sponsored HB 87. - Right on Crime [organization]: A conservative criminal justice reform initiative of the Texas Public Policy Foundation that provided technical assistance to Georgia. - Riverbend Correctional Facility [facility]: Medium security facility operated by GEO Group with 25% recidivism rate and 66% post-release employment rate - Securus [organization]: The inmate telecom vendor for the Georgia Department of Corrections. (aka: Aventiv) - Soo Hong [person]: Georgia State Representative for House District 103 and ALEC State Chair. (aka: Rep. Soo Hong) - State Policy Network [organization]: A network of conservative and libertarian think tanks, of which the Georgia Public Policy Foundation is a member. - Union Supply Group [organization]: Prison commissary company acquired by Aramark in 2022, deepening Aramark's conflict of interest as both food service and commissary operator. - Wheeler Correctional Facility [facility]: A CoreCivic-operated private prison in Alamo, Georgia, opened in 1998. 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Kemp signs sweeping lawsuit reform bills into law, Georgia Public Broadcasting (2025-04-21) [journalism, secondary] URL: https://www.gpb.org/news/2025/04/21/gov-kemp-signs-sweeping-lawsuit-reform-bills-law - GPS original analysis, Georgia Prisoners' Speak [gps_original, primary] - Groups Charge ALEC With Tax Fraud Over Secretive 'Scholarship' Fund, Common Cause (2013-08-01) [press_release, secondary] URL: https://www.commoncause.org/media/groups-charge-alec-with-tax-fraud-over-secretive-scholarship-fund-that-finances-junkets-for-state-lawmakers/ - HB 68 (FY2026) Criminal Justice and Public Safety budget, Georgia General Assembly, Georgia General Assembly (2026-01-01) [legislation, primary] URL: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/senate-budget-office-document-library/appropriations/2026/general/fy2026_house_criminal_justice_and_public_safety.pdf - How we uncovered 10,000 times lawmakers introduced copycat model bills, Center for Public Integrity (2019-01-01) [journalism, secondary] URL: https://publicintegrity.org/politics/state-politics/copy-paste-legislate/how-we-uncovered-10000-times-lawmakers-introduced-copycat-model-bills-and-why-it-matters/ - In These Times reporting by Beau Hodai (2010), In These Times by Beau Hodai (2010-01-01) [journalism, secondary] - Institute for Justice v. 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John Carson District 46 Biography, Georgia General Assembly [official_report, primary] URL: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/bios/carson-john-795.pdf - Report of the Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform, February 2015, Georgia Department of Community Supervision, Georgia Department of Community Supervision (2015-02-01) [official_report, primary] URL: https://dcs.georgia.gov/document/publication/2014-2015-criminal-justice-reform-council-report/download - State Chairs, American Legislative Exchange Council (2026-01-01) [official_report, primary] URL: https://alec.org/about/state-chairs/ - The Guardian (December 6, 2013), The Guardian (2013-12-06) [journalism, secondary] - The Legislative Influence Detector: Finding Text Reuse in State Legislation, ACM KDD 2016 by Burgess et al. 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