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ACCE Wants Local Government to Pay for ACCE Conference Fees Despite calls for "better stewardship" of local government funds, [ ACCE director Jon] Russell now wants local governments to foot the bill for public officials to attend ACCE conferences. ACCE apparently wants government just small enough to fit into its own pocket.ACCE's website includes a helpful form letter prepared for "," which local elected officials use to ask for public funds to cover airfare, a hotel stay, meals, and conference fees at the ACCE conference.The alleged benefit to the municipality? "Tangible takeaways" that will "make me a stronger advocate.""With such a rich offering of educational content and innovative ideas will benefit from my attendance at ACCE Annual Meeting," reads the helpful cookie cutter letter.The letter associates ACCE with ALEC, "a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities." There is no mention that ALEC is considered by critics to be a corporate bill mill, whose closed-door activities have generated ethics and IRS complaints. Over 100 companies have stopped funding ALEC due to ongoing controversies, most recently including ALEC's role in promoting climate change denial.For public officials, ACCE offers an early bird special of $150, which jumps to $700 if you fail to register early. For private sector lobbyists, the tab for this meeting is $890, jumping to $1,149 if you fail to register early.Stay tuned. It is not yet known how many local officials will take advantage of this special offer to hobnob with corporate America, or how much the conference might cost local taxpayers, but we are anxious to find out.- See more at: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2015/02/12738/acce-city-subsidize-alec-style-corporate-lobbying
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Sample Letter of Justification
Dear , I would like to request funding to attend the American City County Exchange (ACCE) Annual Meeting, July 22-July 23 in San Diego, California. This conference brings together hundreds of state and local elected and appointed leaders to focus on best practices in public policy that are important to local governments. ACCE is a project of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonpartisan 501 (c) (3) organization dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities. Throughout the year, ACCE hosts two major conferences where they provide workshops and guest speakers to help local governments operate more effectively and efficiently. ACCEs efforts to develop model policies that promote efficient, benefiting and cities everywhere. The conference will include sessions and learning opportunities where I can gather tangible takeaways to bring back home on a variety of topics important to our community, such as transportation, emergency services, community development and federal regulations that will make me a stronger advocate for . . The full price conference fee is , but can be reduced by registering before the early bird deadline. Here is the breakdown of conference costs: Roundtrip Airfare: Transportation: Hotel: Meals: Conference Fee: The total costs associated with attending this conference are: . With such a rich offering of educational content and innovative ideas will benefit from my attendance at ACCE Annual Meeting If theres any further information I can provide to support my request, please do not hesitate to ask! Sincerely,