Future Plans for Maker-Space HeatSync Labs Here in The New Urban DTMesa? Do Your Bit

HeatSync is working on future plans. HeatSync Labs (HSL) Community Survey

HeatSync Labs is a community-driven 501(c)3 non-profit shop and workspace where engineers, artists, students, and hobbyists come to make prototypes, art, and other creative projects. 
It is a workshop for mad scientists, artists and anyone creating or making!

We make tools, resources, and skills available to you.

We have created this survey to learn how we can make more positive impact in the community.

Please help the group understand your needs better. 

 It should take less then 10 minutes.

http://www.heatsynclabs.org/

Thanks for taking time to help ensure the future of independently-operated technology spaces in Arizona.
Go to this link >> http://survey.heatsynclabs.org/

HeatSync Labs = MakerSpace Here In New Urban DTMesa

Published on Aug 29, 2016

Views: 514

Ryan McDermott from HeatSync Labs was invited to speak at the White House about how Makerspaces are enabling creativity and innovation. Learn what they are and how you can try one out.

THE END OF WHITE CHRISTIAN AMERICA

. . . . an era passes

Published on Jul 19, 2016

Views: 1,047

Robert P. Jones, CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), challenges us to grasp the profound political and cultural consequences of a new reality—that America is no longer a majority white Christian nation.

Robert Jones, "The End of White Christian America"

(Aug 24, 2016

Donald Trump and Mexican President Nieto Hold Press Conference 8/3...

In Spanish - the importance of the longtime relationship between the United States of Mexico and here.
An open and constructive transnational presentation of facts to educate Trump about what he didn't know . . .
Live stream was provided Right Stream Broadcasting >> http://rsbn.tv/

Streamed live 9 hours ago

Views: 69,270

Wednesday, August 31, 2016: Full replay of Donald Trump and Mexican President Nieto's News Conference.

A Few Winks for Jeremy Whittaker >KeepYour Wits About U

Industry Mag: Business Facilities

July / August 2016 Issue (Volume 49, Number 4)

August 17, 2016

 The 12th Annual Rankings Report stars in Business Facilities' July / August 2016 issue. 

Plus, a look at New Mexico, Florida, Arizona, Kentucky, Kansas, New England, Advanced Manufacturing, and Food Processing.

Metro, Global Rankings

Rankings & Awards August 3, 2016

BF’s 12TH ANNUAL RANKINGS report is our most comprehensive analysis to date of the locations that are leading the pack in the most important benchmarks for sustainable growth in the 21st century. Part Two: Metro Rankings.

 COVER STORY: 2016 Business Facilities Rankings Report | It’s hard to believe we’ve being giving you the lowdown on the best of the best for a dozen years now, but we haven’t cut any corners for our 12th Annual Rankings Report. This year’s evaluation is our most comprehensive to date of the state, metro and global leaders.

2016 Rankings Report: Best States | The Lone Star State achieved the best across-the-board results we’ve ever seen in our State Rankings. Texas made our top 10 in a record-shattering 18 out of 24 categories, including four first-place rankings. UT, FL, CA and GA also ranked among the cream of the crop.

2016 Rankings Report: Top Metros | Need to know which metro has the Best Cost of Living or the Lowest Cost of Doing Business? Are you on the lookout for thriving hubs teeming with data centers, STEM jobs or tech startups? Or maybe you’re just looking for a great place to live. It’s all here.

The Future is Welcome in New Mexico | Last year, we sat down with Gov. Susana Martinez and listened intently as she outlined a bold agenda of forward-thinking initiatives designed to turbocharge job creation in NM. Here’s the sequel, and it’s filled with an impressive array of results.

Sonic Boom | The Sunshine State is on a roll with a bright future led by an aerospace sector that shows no signs of being grounded.

Changing Tastes | Competition in the food market is every growing and those who respond to consumer demand will end up on top of the food chain.

The Makings to Manufacture | New England’s leading research institutions, sought-after talent pool and supportive network of innovators and co-location facilities are spurring growth in the advanced manufacturing sector.

Growing Every Which Way | Not only is Arizona seeing population growth at twice the national rate, the Grand Canyon State also is bursting with incentives, job-training assistance and R&D assets.

Design of the Future Arrives | Chicago’s UI Labs Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute is paving the way for advanced manufacturing breakthroughs of the 21st century.

Kentucky: Biotech Bonanza | Lexington is in the midst of a biotechnology surge with the recent addition of a specialized startup and the expansion of an established pharmaceutical plant.

Kansas: Experiencing Fulfillment | Amazon’s new Kansas City fulfillment center will create more than 1,000 jobs and is the second large distribution facility the tech giant has placed in Kansas this year.

To subscribe to BF, visit this link.

Connect With Us:

City of Mesa Planning & Zoning - 8/17/2016

Council Study Session - 8/29/2016

Planning & Zoning - 7/20/2016

Council Study Session - 8/22/2016

So Much Fun > More Winks for Winkle

We Always Say "It's Hot" But Nobody + Nobody Gets At HIGH POLLUTION/Dangerous Air We Breathe

Sources of pollution? Power sources, commercial and commuter traffic . . . suburban sprawl > jobs far from housing

Left + Right Wing > How Do U Fly?

Re: People For the American Way's Right Wing Watch is dedicated to monitoring and reporting on the activities of right-wing political organizations, in order to expose the agenda of the extreme Right. Our researchers monitor dozens of broadcasts, emails and websites, and use their expertise on right-wing movements to analyze and distill that information for the general public. 
We hope that by shedding light on the activities of right-wing organizations, we can expose the risks that their extreme and intolerant agendas present to our country. We do not endorse the views of groups that we report on.
This site may also include postings by our affiliate People For the American Way Foundation and will be so designated.

Heritage Foundation

The best-known and most influential right-wing think tank, the Heritage Foundation owes much of its success to savvy marketing and PR and the generous donations of right-wing benefactors, foundations and wealthy corporations. The foundation boasts about its influence on Capitol Hill yet insists that it does not "lobby."

Heritage Foundation
214 Massachusetts Avenue NE
Washington, DC 20002
Website: www.heritage.org

 

Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institution—a think tank—whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.

 

Learn About the Candidate Briefing Program

Did you know that Candidates can get policy training from The Heritage Foundation? Many of the 2016 presidential candidates, congressional candidates, and current Members of Congress have attended. Read More

Did you know that Candidates can get a policy briefing from The Heritage Foundation? Many of the 2016 presidential candidates, congressional candidates, and current Members of Congress, as well as their respective teams have attended a Candidate Briefing at The Heritage Foundation.  In fact, Heritage has done over 110 briefings since July of 2015.

Each briefing is tailored to the issues that a candidate finds most important. Briefings are held one-on-one with Heritage’s best policy experts who can cover an issue from the basics of conservative policy to a deep dive into the minutiae of an issue. During the briefing, a candidate has the opportunity to engage Heritage’s policy experts in an interactive discussion to develop a robust understanding of an issue.
There is no charge for the briefing, and scheduling is flexible. Briefings are offered and available to all candidates for public office regardless of political party.

Solutions 2016 – The Candidate Briefing Book Solutions 2016 is an arsenal of today’s best conservative policy recommendations for those fighting on the front lines of American political life, whether by running for office or simply being an active citizen in their community. Each of the 40 issues from across the foreign and domestic policy spectrum are addressed in “primer” fashion, offering a succinct summary and analysis of the issue, conservative policy recommendations, and facts and figures.

 

 

 

The Heritage Foundation is publishing a three-part Mandate for Leadership Series of documents over the course of 2016. Each document educates the American public, specifically including Congress, the new American President, and the new President’s team.

All three parts deliver a clear, unified policy vision for Congress and the President to preserve and create opportunities to enable all Americans provide for their families, contribute to their communities, and pursue their dreams.

 

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2016/07/blueprint-for-reform

 

 

961 W Main St, Mesa AZ - LRA Restaurant Property Tour

Published on Aug 18, 2016

Views: 4

Available Restaurant: 5,665 sf, 0.54 acres, zoned C-3, ample parking, faces light rail. contact Bryan Watkins @ 480.734.7878 (LRA Real Estate Group)

2052 W Main St MESA Green Acres RV Park

Published on Apr 4, 2015

Views: 190 [selling point = a Cash-flow property/minimal maintenance costs]

RV Park FOR SALE; 68 space/2 apts, very clean with remodeled bathrooms, Excellent reviews, 2 blocks from large light rail station (Dobson/Sycamore & Main); close to new Chicago Cubs spring training stadium, Cultural/Arts venues, Downtown Mesa, Tempe and Phoenix.

Valley of The Sun | Why Don't We Use It More? Hint = Political Obstacles

What this German community accomplished will surprise you       
By Jeffrey Joslin on July 3, 2015
In order to sustain ourselves in the near future, we need to transition toward renewable alternatives. Right now, many of us question the reliability and cost effectiveness of solar, wind and hydro power. It might surprise you to know that a community located in Friedburg, Germany produces four times more energy than it uses. In other words, we already know that the world can run on renewable energy–we just haven’t passed the political obstacles in our way yet.

Architect Rolf Disch was the first man to design a building that would capture more energy than it required. This Sonnenschiff, or Solar Ship, would eventually become the hub for Friedburg’s massive Solarsiedlung, or Solar Village, undertaking. The idea stemmed from the community’s desire to free itself of traditional dependence on the electrical grid, and instead create its own microgrid by installing a large number of rooftop solar arrays.

The Solar Village is the first community in the world to produce 4x more energy than it uses
After architect, Rolf Disch, built the Heliotrope (the first building in the world to capture more energy than it uses) he set his sights higher.
He successfully created a retail, commercial and residential space called Sonnenschiff, translating to “Solar Ship,” that was energy net-positive in 2004.  The building was a hit, and over the following years 60 more residential buildings have been constructed surrounding the solar ship, all with energy positive electrical systems.  Today the village, dubbed Solarsiedlung (Solar Village), is producing 4x more energy than it consumes.
Solarsiedlung is located in Freidburg, Germany, which is known as the ecological capital of the country.  It is the home of Europe’s largest solar research center.

Solar City Freiburg in Germany - Solar Power Companies

Uploaded December 12, 2011
Views: 45.026

Whoa! Yuge Spike in Viewers Yesterday

Corporate, Military Training, General Aviation + 2 Flight Training Schools To Benefit from $10M Grant

Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Receives $9 Million FAA Grant

Source: Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority (PMGAA) 
August 25, 2016

Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport announced Aug. 25, one of the largest Federal grants it has received since transitioning from a fighter pilot training base to a bustling regional airport.  The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded a $9,126,000 grant to replace over one million square feet of concrete originally built in 1941. 
The concrete, referred to as the North Apron Area, will be replaced in five phases and includes areas used by corporate, military, general aviation and the two flight training schools that operate out of Gateway Airport.  The year-long project is being scheduled in phases in order to not disrupt daily operations at the busy airport.

 

Mesa, Ariz., Mayor John Giles, chairman of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority added, “This is a significant project that will create 105 jobs and enhance the airport’s ability to serve corporate customers, military training exercises, and other general aviation users.”
The $10,000,000 project includes a local grant match by the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority. 
Construction is anticipated to begin on Sept. 20, following a groundbreaking ceremony, and will take a year to complete. 
After a competitive bidding process, Dibble Engineering was awarded the contract to oversee the project.  
The $10,000,000 project includes a local grant match by the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority.  Construction is anticipated to begin on Sept. 20, following a groundbreaking ceremony, and will take a year to complete.  After a competitive bidding process, Dibble Engineering was awarded the contract to oversee the project.    

 

Take This Test: YOU rate Mesa

We are constantly bombarded, be-dazzled and honestly bamboozled by all the hype and hoopla from the City of Mesa Office for Economic Development, interviews on Mesa Morning Live and by press releases produced by the City of Mesa Newsroom - after all it is their job to cast a positive image in the game of public relations . . .for example, Mayor John Giles bragging that according to Forbes "Mesa is the best city in the Southwest to live in" while not daring to bring up the shortcomings of that survey, repeating time-and-time again that "Everything is great", or anyone else on the taxpayer-dime grabbing any snatch of what passes for news.
Well, how do the real people rate where we live and work?

Greatest Hits: The Strong Towns Strength Test
Find it  here and publish your comments and results on that site.
It goes like this

Here are ten simple questions we call the Strong Towns Strength Test. A Strong Town should be able to answer “yes” to each of these questions.

1. Take a photo of your main street at midday. Does the picture show more people than cars?
2. If there were a revolution in your town, would people instinctively know where to gather to participate?
3. Imagine your favorite street in town didn’t exist. Could it be built today if the construction had to follow your local rules?
4. Is an owner of a single family home able to get permission to add a small rental unit onto their property without any real hassle?
5. If your largest employer left town, are you confident the city would survive?
6. Is it safe for children to walk or bike to school and many of their other activities without adult supervision?
7. Are there neighborhoods where three generations of a family could reasonably find a place to live, all within walking distance of each other?
8. If you wanted to eat only locally-produced food for a month, could you?
9. Before building or accepting new infrastructure, does the local government clearly identify how future generations will afford to maintain it?
10. Does the city government spend no more than 10% of its locally-generated revenue on debt service?

My hometown of Brainerd scores a 1 or a 2, but only because the biggest employer (the school district) can’t leave town and there are a couple of neighborhoods where multiple generations could technically live within walking distance of each other. We're getting closer on local food, and many the rest are doable with some modest change in thinking. 
How does your town stack up? 

Juanga: El Divo de Juarez - Esta Noche Voy a Verla

A Tribute

Juan Gabriel Rancheras

Another Tribute!

A Radical (Re)Thinking | Poverty: The Biggest Problem In The World

Rethinking Poverty

August 19, 2016

• Poverty the biggest problem in the world
• More money needed to help poor
• Direct transfers more efficient than subsidies

Anti-poverty programs often fail because of an inadequate understanding of poverty by policymakers. So argues Abhijit Banerjee, Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who has worked in dozens of countries to better study the economics of poverty. In a recent podcast interview, Banerjee talked about this main theme in his book, Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty.

Professor Banerjee also shared his views on policies to help the poor in a panel discussion on sustainable economic development in low-income developing countries , during the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in April 2016.

Excerpts:

 IMF News: Why do we know so little about the more than one billion poor people in the world?
Banerjee: Well, it is very expensive to collect data. To be honest, there are a billion poor people in the world, but how many of us would live next door to them? So, we don’t see them. They are mostly invisible except in their most extreme manifestations—you see the person who is begging in the street, or the person who has made it out of poverty and can tell his own story . . .

IMF News : You also speak a lot about poverty traps. Do you think there are circumstances in which people or groups of people do, in fact, find themselves trapped in poverty?
Banerjee: There are two answers to that question.
One is: do I believe it is true? Yes, I believe it’s true.
Do I have any very well-founded reason to believe it’s true? Much harder question. I would say the evidence on these interventions—which help people today and many years later they are still richer—suggests that there might be a trap [for the poor], because if there wasn’t one, you would think that [the people who were helped] would fall back [into poverty].
If it were the case that some people are doomed to be who they are and some people are just poor because they are unskilled or undisciplined or not hardworking enough, then you would imagine that you couldn’t get them out of poverty by doing something today, because tomorrow they will still be lazy and will go back to where they belong. I think the evidence suggests that this is not true, that many people are in a situation where, if given an opportunity, they would be in a different place.

Source: http://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2016/08/19/NA081916-Rethinking-Poverty

Wake Up Mesa! How To Take Acton > Attacking Head-On Current Development Patterns

10 STEPS TO A STRONG(ER) TOWN
August 29, 2016 by Andrew Burleson

Last names oftentimes say a lot -like your MesaZona bloggers : Mello(w) . . .
We often talk about cities needing to change their current development pattern, but we usually offer gentle suggestions intended to prod towns in the right direction a little at a time.
What if we attacked this problem head-on instead?
The author of this article hits it right in the head e.g..read the details
Excerpts from this source:
http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2016/8/26/10-steps-to-fix-a-city


1. Don't issue any new bonds until the city's current debts are fully paid off.
2. Don't accept unfunded maintenance obligations.
3. Throw out your parking ordinances. 
4. Don't permit greenfield development when existing infrastructure is highly underutilized.
5. Require buildings to front the street.
6. Dramatically simplify your zoning.
7. Dramatically simplify your traffic hierarchy.
8. Stop building stroads.
9. Set a maximum block perimeter of 2000' and enforce it.

10. Fire anyone on staff who believes the above is unworkable.

In today’s municipal world the professionals are a big part of the problem. There are plenty of good people out there who could work well within the constraints above. If the people in your city staff don’t think that’s possible, then the city needs new staff.

----

Each one of these actions marks a dramatic departure from the norm for most places. Take even one of these steps and your town is on its way to becoming stronger. Take them all and you might just have a truly strong town on your hands.

Want another way to assess your city's strength and build a better place? Take the Strong Towns Strength Test.

Army GeoSpatial Center Gets DSM-10 Digital Surface Modeling For An Entire Country from Single- Source Contract Award

U.S. Government Awards Vricon Sole-Source Contract
August 26, 2016 09:32 ET

MCLEAN, VA--(Marketwired - August 26, 2016) - Vricon was awarded a General Services Administration (GSA) contract to support the Army Geospatial Center (AGC) with 10-meter and 0.5-meter geospatial data. Vricon's mission is to build The Globe in 3D by producing photorealistic 3D products and digital elevation models with unmatched coverage and delivery timelines.
Under the contract, Vricon will provide AGC with DSM-10 -- a digital surface model (DSM) with 10-meter postings -- for an entire country. Vricon also will provide the Vricon Data Suite -- a bundle of products that includes Vricon 3D Surface Model, Vricon DSM, Vricon Point Cloud, and Vricon True Ortho -- for specific areas around the world. All Vricon Data Suite products possess a 0.5-meter resolution.

"This is a tremendous award for Vricon," said Magnus Brege, CEO of Vricon. "It validates the quality of our products and the importance of our global coverage. Moreover, the US Government recognized our pricing model as 'extremely affordable' -- we create this value through our unique automated processing techniques that help keep costs down while maintaining superior accuracy."
To learn more about Vricon, visit www.vricon.com.
About VriconVricon serves the global professional geospatial market with world-leading 3D geodata and 3D visualization solutions. Vricon is headquartered in McLean, Virginia. For further information, visit http://www.vricon.com.

Contact Information

Vricon Media Contact
• Craig Brower
  +1 (703) 283-4588
  media@vricon.com

Train Pie - What's The Actual News???

Gotta wonder sometimes what the stories in the news are - any ACTUAL NEWS?... Jonathan Pie on a train and here in Mesa it was the One-Year Anniversary for Valley Metro Light Rail into downtown Mesa, observed with a Tweet from City Manager Chris Brady, with Mesa Mayor John Giles observing the momentous occasion by re-Tweeting the same thing . . . now that's Leadership, huh?

Published on Aug 28, 2016

Views: 4,804

Corbin v Branson: A rare insight into Jonathan Pie's off air persona.

RightWing ALEC Really Likes AZ Gov Doug Ducey

State of the States
An Analysis of the 2016 Governors’ Addresses

About the ALEC Center for State Fiscal Reform 
The ALEC Center for State Fiscal Reform strives to educate those who share a commitment to our principles and shared goals and to educate our legislative members on how to achieve greater economic prosperity by outlining which policies work and which ones fail.
How does ALEC do this? By "briefings" if you ever wondered why you get the same "newspeak" from states all the country, or why the same legislative initiatives appear in all those same states - ALEC = the source.
This is done by personalized research, policy briefings in the states and by releasing nonpartisan policy publications for distribution such as

• Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index;
• The Unseen Costs of Tax Cronyism: Favoritism and Foregone Growth;
• Tax Myths Debunked;
• Keeping the Promise: State Solutions for Government Pension Reform
• The State Budget Reform Toolkit. 

 Managing Editors:  

• Theodore Lafferty  Legal Research Analyst, Center for State Fiscal Reform  American Legislative Exchange Council 
• Jonathan Williams  Vice President, Center for State Fiscal Reform  American Legislative Exchange Council    

Contributing Authors:  

• Joe Horvath Research Analyst, Center for State Fiscal Reform American Legislative Exchange Council 
• Jack King Summer Research Associate, Center for State Fiscal Reform American Legislative Exchange Council 
• Theodore Lafferty Legal Research Analyst, Center for State Fiscal Reform American Legislative Exchange Council 
• John R. Richardson Summer Research Associate, Center for State Fiscal Reform American Legislative Exchange Council 
• Kati Siconolfi  Legislative Manager, Center for State Fiscal Reform  American Legislative Exchange Council  
• Jonathan Williams  Vice President, Center for State Fiscal Reform  American Legislative Exchange Council    

Introduction  In 2016, 44 governors across America delivered State of the State addresses. These addresses included numerous economic policy proposals that will affect the states’ economic competitiveness.
This report observes and analyzes the economic policy proposals discussed in each governor’s State of the State address. In those states where no State of the State address was given, the equivalent inaugural or budget address is discussed when applicable. Also included are special session addresses that had significant discussions of economic policy.  
A number of different trends and priorities regarding economic policy were observed when reviewing these addresses.
1. Following a similar trend observed in the majority of 2015 State of the State addresses, many governors focused a considerable portion of their addresses on the issue of tax relief. 2. For the second year in a row, more governors proposed reducing taxes to facilitate economic growth than governors who proposed increasing taxes. 
3. Aside from tax proposals, many governors discussed a number of different policy topics which, while less directly related, can still significantly affect state economies.
Some of the most important of these issues included pension reform, expanding or shrinking Medicaid, changes to the state’s minimum wage and government efficiency.  
4. The majority of governors seem to understand that lower tax rates and limited government give citizens and businesses a greater incentive to reside and operate in their states compared to others with higher tax rates and more regulations.
 
This concept is further explored in the Center for State Fiscal Reform’s Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index, in which years of economic data and empirical evidence from each state are examined in order to determine what economic policies lead to prosperity.
1. Generally, states with lower tax rates, fewer regulations and responsible spending habits outperform other states in terms of economic growth.
2. Based on the observations made in reviewing the 2016 State of the State addresses, many governors are following these policies to help their states better compete for residents, jobs and capital.  

Best and Worst State of the State Addresses, 2016 
The following lists contain the best and worst State of the State addresses of 2016, based on the economic policy proposals included in each address.
The “best” addresses include proposals that are proven to enhance economic competitiveness and growth, while the “worst” addresses include proposals that are proven to hinder economic competitiveness and growth.
The addresses are ordered by the state’s economic outlook ranking in the 9th edition of Rich States, Poor States

On top of the list - and best - The State of Arizona, beating out Florida Governor Smith and  in third place Maine's loud-mouthed Governor LePage

Best : Arizona – Governor Doug Ducey 
Rich States, Poor States 2016 Economic Outlook Ranking: 5 
 “A year later, the big spenders who told us we couldn’t balance the budget, are beating the drum—celebrating our hard work with plans to spend and party like it’s 1999. Some people never learn, no matter how much their heads hurt in the morning.” 
Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona delivered one of the most impressive State of the State addresses this year, emphasizing the need to continue on a path toward greater prosperity and freedom by eliminating waste and getting government out of the way of businesses and residents.
The governor lauded his proposed budget which responsibly prioritized government spending in areas such as education, child safety and public safety.
In addition, he stated the budget does not raise taxes and promised the legislature and the people of Arizona that “we will lower taxes this year. Next year. And the year after.” 

• While continuing to highlight the success Arizona has had under his administration, Governor Ducey emphasized that the state cannot go back to their old spending habits which previously led them down a path of economic decline. The policies put in place under Governor Ducey’s leadership have led to an Arizona that isn’t just strong, but on the rise, with Arizona ranking 5 in the 2016 Rich States, Poor States economic outlook rankings

• 
  About the American Legislative Exchange Council 
  The 2016 State of the States Report was published by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as part of its mission to discuss, develop and disseminate model public policies that promote limited government, free markets and federalism. ALEC is the nation’s largest non-partisan, voluntary membership organization of state legislators, with more than 2,000 members across the nation. ALEC is governed by a Board of Directors of state legislators. ALEC is classified by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public policy and educational organization. Individuals, philanthropic foundations, businesses and associations are eligible to support the work of ALEC through taxdeductible gifts.  Acknowledgements and Disclaimers 
  The authors wish to thank Lisa Nelson, Bill Meierling, Nathan Brinkman, Ashley Varner, Shana Sally, Christine Phipps, Christine Smith, Elliot Young and the professional staff at ALEC for their valuable assistance with this project. 
  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without the prior permission of the publisher. The copyright to this work is held by the American Legislative Exchange Council. This study may not be duplicated or distributed in any form without the permission of the American Legislative Exchange Council and with proper attribution.  
  Contact Information:  American Legislative Exchange Council  2900 Crystal Drive, Suite 600  Arlington, VA 22202  Tel: 703.373.0933  Fax: 703.373.0927