Today, Johnson & Johnson announced that it would leave the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), making it the 19th corporation to do so. Johnson & Johnson’s decision comes on the heels of a major petition drive and phone campaign asking corporations to stop funding ALEC’s extreme agenda. The company was also the target of radio ads throughout the state. Johnson & Johnson held a seat on ALEC’s “Private Enterprise” Board of Directors.

“The extreme ALEC agenda harms all of us on a daily basis,” said Michael Keegan, President of People For the American Way Foundation. “It’s disturbing that so many American companies still have a hand in advancing legislation that suppresses the right to vote, impedes access to health care, weakens public education and jeopardizes public safety. I commend the persistence of the hundreds of thousands of activists who have demanded accountability from corporations supporting the ALEC agenda. Johnson & Johnson’s departure from ALEC is a big victory, and the other corporate funders who have yet to leave ALEC should take note.”

A petition drive and phone campaign led by People For the American Way Foundation, Color of Change, the Center for Media and Democracy, CREDO Action, Progress Now, SumOfUs and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee has resulted in over 500,000 signatures and calls to ALEC’s corporate members, demanding that those companies end their membership with ALEC.

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