ALEC's Cheeseburger Legislation

MNDem999 

(If you don't know what ALEC is and what it does, please read the links at the end of this entry.)
During lunch when I was reading the StarTrib online – I saw a reference to the Minnesota “Cheeseburger Bill”.  I had to go take a look at the article and then had to read the legislation and I said to myself “That’s gotta be ALEC Model Legislation!”
So when I got home I started doing research.
On 2/23/11 there is a posting on the Huffington Post that says
"Okay, you can still blame Ronald McDonald if you're overweight. But it's going to be harder to take him to court. At least in Minnesota, where a House committee has just ok'd the Cheeseburger Bill -- the first such statute in the nation."
That’s not exactly true.

THE US House and Senate have been trying to pass this legislation for the past five years.
Being the good ALEC members that they are the following states have passed or are trying to pass this ALEC legislation.

This type of legislation has become law with strong bipartisan support in 21 states Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Why do I think it’s ALEC Model Legislation?
Well – there’s this clip from the Inside Alec Magazine in June 2007

Civil Justice Reform Faces Hurdles in Oklahoma The civil justice reform battle suffered a major blow on April 28, when Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry vetoed Senate Bill 507, a comprehensive tort-reform package. The legislation would have been one of the most significant reform efforts to date. SB 507 contained many of ALEC’s model reforms including the Appeal Bond Waiver Act, the Joint and Several Liability Reform Act, the Quality Education Teacher and Principal Protection Act, the Commonsense Consumption Act, the Volunteer Immunity and Charitable Organization Liability Limit Act, the Non-economic Damages Awards Act, the Punitive Damages Standards Act, the Class Action Improvements Act, and several others.

The important parts are bolded for easy reference.
Then there’s this

Here’s Colorado’s 2004 ALEC “Model Legislation”  “The Commonsense Consumption Act”

Here’s Wyoming’s ALEC “Model Legislation  in 2005 “Commonsense Consumption Act”.

Here’s Minnesota’s 2011“Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act”

Note that the ALEC Model Legislation has a new name now –
BUT the language is almost exactly the same – the sentiment is exactly the same.

"Minnesota state Rep. Dean Urdahl(R-Grove City) may finally see passage of his 7-year-old baby the Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act,"

Seven years..... that makes the timing about right.
In the 2002 Summer / Fall edition of the ALEC Policy Forum it states

“If fast food chains or manufacturers of fatty food can be subject to the same vilification [as cigarettes], it is possible that potential juror attitudes will change. If they do, the fast food industry and those who produce fatty foods could be at significant risk.”

In a nutshell what is The Commonsense Consumption Act/Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act?

The Act clarifies that food suppliers are not liable for health conditions that flow from long-term food consumption to prohibit civil action against food providers for a person's obesity, weight gain, or health condition related to weight gain that was due to the long-term consumption of food.
The bill denies liabilityfor obesity claims unless the plaintiff can prove that the obesity is directly caused by the willful misrepresentation of the products served,
to prohibit claims against fast food companies based on a consumer’s obesity or obesity related illnesses.

What really, really  matters here to me  -  is this legislation was written at an ALEC meeting – where the private sector meets with our state legislators to write and approve legislation.
Straight from the ALEC “Model Legislation” vault to the Minnesota State Legislature – whether we wanted it or not!  Legislation written with the help of corporations, for corporations.
Oh, by the way - I wonder what types of companies would want this legislation?
Maybe one these companies, companies that have been linked with ALEC?
  McDonalds
  Wendy's International
  MillerCoors
  CocaCola
  FritoLay
  Hiram Walker and Sons
  Kraft Foods
  National Resturant Association
  National Softdrink Association
  Outback Steakhouse
  Sara Lee Corporation
  Seagram and Sons

If you don’t know what ALEC is – please read this, or this, or this, or this.

SEE in particular
http://bit.ly/h9toet  
Prof. Cronan's tutorial

 http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/29/971593/-Breaking!!-First-ever-demonstration-against-an-ALEC-event-in-Cincinnati