Topix Underground

"...The fast food giant Yum! Brands has reversed its 2012 decision to stop funding the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and started paying annual dues to an association of right-wing attorneys general, according to its most recent voluntary financial disclosure.

Yum!, the parent company of popular fast food brands such as Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut, disclosed 2022 contributions of $12,000 to ALEC and $15,000 to the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), both for putative advocacy work. The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) first reported the Yum! funding of RAGA in September 2022.

ALEC is a pay-to-play group that brings together corporate lobbyists and state lawmakers to vote as equals on model policies that advance corporate interests at the state level. ALEC’s model bills stymie unions, artificially distort markets to favor the fossil fuel and tobacco industries, exacerbate the climate crisis, and prevent access to abortion, among other things..."