Georgia Representative Earl Ehrhart received the American Legislative Exchange Council’s National Leadership Award for Limited Government and Free Enterprise at its Annual Meeting in Atlanta on Thursday, July 16. Rep. Ehrhart was nominated for this prestigious award by fellow state legislators from across the nation for his steadfast support of the principles of limited government and free enterprise.

Former U.S. Senator and Georgia Governor Zell Miller, Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and many other notable policy leaders addressed an audience of nearly 1,600 state legislators and business leaders at the American Legislative Exchange Council’s 36th Annual Meeting held July 15 to 18 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.

“The annual Meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council provides a unique opportunity for legislators from all 50 states to come together to discuss policy solutions collectively along with public-policy experts and the private sector,” said Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, Bill Howell, ALEC’s 2009 National Chairman. “ALEC’s process of producing principled model legislation is unparalleled among its type,” he added.

Other notable speakers included: Dr. Art Laffer and Stephen Moore, co-authors of ALEC’s Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index; syndicated radio host Herman Cain; and Daniel Hannan (MEP).

Featured workshops included:

Medical Innovation
Higher Education
Energy and Economic Recovery
Virtual Learning
Transparency in the States
E-Discovery
The Politics of Climate Change
Saving America’s Election System

Most of the business conducted at ALEC occurs in one of its nine Task Forces which include; Health and Human Services; Natural Resources; Education; Tax and Fiscal Policy; Public Safety and Elections; Civil Justice; Commerce, Insurance, and Economic Development; Telecommunications and Information Technology; and International Relations. These Task Forces have considered, written, and approved hundreds of model bills, offering real policy solutions for states on a wide range of issues. Each year, state legislatures consider close to 1,000 bills that are based, at least in part, on ALEC Model Legislation. Hundreds of these bills are enacted every year.