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Capitol View®
Catharine Richert

Best Buy terminates ALEC membership

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Minnesota-based Best Buy has decided not to renew its membership with the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council.

Matt Furman, Best Buy's spokesman, confirmed the company is no longer a member of ALEC as of this year. The company determined that its work on two ALEC subcommittees had come to an end and it decided not to renew its membership as a result, Furman said.

Best Buy is among 24 companies that have decided to withdraw from ALEC, according to ColorOfChange, an organization that has been pressuring corporations to cut ties with the organization.

ALEC is best known for bringing together state lawmakers and corporations to discuss and jointly draft model legislation meant to be introduced in state legislatures. ALEC says it is a bipartisan organization, but the policies it supports and its membership tend to be conservative.

ALEC has come under scrutiny recently for backing the "stand-your-ground" gun bill, legislation similar to Florida's deadly force law that liberal and civil rights groups blame for the shooting of Florida teen Trayvon Martin.

For its part, ALEC decided in April to end the task force that supported the "stand-your-ground" bill.

Roughly 30 of Minnesota's Republican lawmakers are members of ALEC, according to former ALEC state chairwoman Laura Brod.