Stephen Nass

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Stephen Nass is a Republican member of the Wisconsin state Assembly, representing Assembly District 31, located in Whitewater, WI. He sits on the following Committees: Colleges and Universities (Chair); Education; Labor and Workforce Development; and Ways and Means.

Rep. Nass and the American Legislative Exchange Council International Relations Task Force

Rep. Nass is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) International Relations Task Force.

Rep. Nass and Introduction of the ALEC Model “Prevailing Wage Repeal Act”

On June 16, 2011, he was a co-introducer of Wisconsin Assembly Bill 183, a bill that parallels the ALEC “Prevailing Wage Repeal Act,” which was published in the 1995 ALEC Sourcebook of American State Legislation.

As stated by the blog ‘Badger Democracy’ on July 18, 2011, “The bill would repeal virtually all State oversight of public project worker wages, and drastically change the current law…The effect and language of this bill follows the ALEC model perfectly. It removes virtually all state oversight of public works contracted labor. The law will allow private companies to hire sub-standard, under-qualified laborers at a fraction of the cost, reaping record profits with no state reporting in labor wage practices. The Private Sector will profit at the expense of taxpayers, and the displaced, qualified workers who USED to perform those jobs. These policies always cost the State money as projects run over cost, accidents increase, and lack of accountability leads to corruption.

The players introducing the bill have a confirmed, direct link to ALEC – Robin Vos, ALEC State Chair (accepted an undisclosed amount of money from ALEC for re-election), Patricia Strachota (received $1404 in ALEC campaign funds), and Dan Knodl($2000 in ALEC campaign funds). In addition, the following State Senators are co-sponsors (who have all used taxpayer money to pay their ALEC dues) – Mary Lazich, Terry Moulton, Pam Galloway, Glenn Grothman, Frank Lassee, and Neal Kedzie.”

Assembly Bill 85 and the ALEC Model “Capital Gains Tax Elimination Act”

Nass was a co-introducer of Assembly Bill 85, which called for the elimination of the Capital Gains Tax, and is strikingly similar in scope to ALEC’s Model “The Capital Gains Tax Elimination Act.”

Wrote Center for Media and Democracy’s Mary Bottari, “The action was superseded by the Wisconsin budget bill, which excludes 100% of the capital gains realized on investments in Wisconsin for five years, costing Wisconsin approximately $79 million per year, according to analysis by the AFL-CIO. Additional exclusions from income tax for capital gains will amount to $36 million per budget cycle. Capital gains taxes are applied to profits made off the sale of stocks, bonds, precious metal and property. ALEC has long had a model bill called ‘The Capital Gains Tax Elimination Act’ that advocates for getting rid of the capital gains tax altogether.”

About ALEC

ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.