CapitolBeatOK Staff Report

Published: 17-Aug-2010

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) today announced that Senator Glenn Coffee, an Oklahoma City Republican finishing a term as President Pro-Tempore of the Oklahoma State Senate, has received the highest honor that a setting Legislator can receive from the organization.

Coffee received a “legislator of the year” award from ALEC at its 37th Annual Meeting, held last week in San Diego, California. Nearly 1,500 state legislators, policy experts, and private-sector leaders from across the United States attended three days of intensive discussions on the critical issues.

This award is given to state legislators who are ALEC members in good standing and have distinguished themselves by advancing, introducing, and/or enacting policies based on the fundamental Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism, and individual liberty.

The award has been won by one other Oklahoma Legislator, Mary Fallin in 1993 when she served in the state House for four years.

Fallin, now the
Republican nominee for Governor of Oklahoma stated, “I am glad to see that ALEC has recognized a great Oklahoma Legislator in Glenn Coffee for his work in the Oklahoma State Senate on important issues like lawsuit reform and many others in the Jeffersonian principles of free markets.”

Fallin went on to say, “I am sure Sen. Coffee is honored as I was, and what a great and well deserved honor to end his legislative career.”

ALEC has also been led by an Oklahoman, former Senator Jim Dunlap, who served as the National Chairman of ALEC in 2002 while Sen. Coffee was in his first term as State Senator.

Dunlap commented, “ALEC has made a great decision in honoring Sen. Glenn Coffee with the Legislator of the Year award and he is well-deserving.”

At the meeting, which Sen. Coffee attended and served as a representative from Oklahoma, state legislators shared their knowledge and experiences with one another and heard from national leaders and renowned policy experts who share their commitment to common sense, free-markets, and federalism.

This year’s Annual Meeting featured Gov. Rick Perry of Texas; Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN); Randall Stephenson, President and CEO of AT&T; Greg Babe, President and CEO of Bayer Corporation; John Fund, columnist at The Wall Street Journal; Scott Rasmussen, President of Rasmussen Reports; Ed Royce, Representative from California; Lynn Salo, vice president of Allergan Medical US Breast Aesthetics Division; and Cal Thomas, syndicated columnist.

Many other scholars, legislators, and business leaders spoke at various meetings throughout the event. One of those speakers was
Bob Williams of StateBudgetSolutions.com, who warned of the deficit implications of recently enacted federal legislation to provide an “education bailout” from the U.S. government to the states.

Most of the business conducted at ALEC occurs in one of its nine Task Forces which include; Health and Human Services; Energy, Environment, and Agriculture; Education Tax and Fiscal Policy; Public Safety and Elections, Civil Justice; Commerce, Insurance, and Economic Development; Telecommunications and Information Technology; and International Relations.

These Task Forces have considered, written, and approved hundreds of model bills, offering real policy solutions for states on a wide range of issues. Each year, state legislatures consider close to 1,000 bills that are based, at least in part, on ALEC Model Legislation. Hundreds of these bills are enacted every year.