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D I D Y O U K N O W ? Corporations VOTED to adopt this. Through ALEC, global companies

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“ALEC”
NEWShas long been a
secretive collaboration
between
BigLegislation
Business and
Model
“conservative” politicians.
Civil Justice
Behind closed doors, they
ghostwrite
“model”
bills to
Commerce,
Insurance,
and Economic
be introduced
in state
Development
capitols
across the country.
This agenda--underwritten
Education
by global corporations-Energy,
includes
majorEnvironment,
tax
and Agriculture
loopholes
for big industries
and the
super rich,
Federal Relations
proposals to offshore U.S.
Health
Human
jobs and
gut and
minimum
wage,Services
and efforts to
weaken public health,
International Relations
safety, and environmental
protections.
Public Although
Safety andmany
Elections
of these
bills have become
law, until now, their origin
Tax and Fiscal Policy
has been largely unknown.
With ALEC
EXPOSED, the
Telecommunications
Centerand
forInformation
Media and
Technology
Democracy
hopes more
Americans will study the
bills to understand
Print this the
Page
depth and breadth of how
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big corporations are
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this rules
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changing the
legal
and undermining democracy
across the nation.

By the Center for
Media and Democracy
www.prwatch.org

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work as “equals” in “unison” with politicians to write laws to govern your life. Big
MODEL LEGISLATION
ALEC INITIATIVES
PUBLICATIONS
Business
has “a VOICE TASK
and aFORCES
VOTE,” according
to newly exposed
documents. DO YOU?

Model Legislation

Public Safety and Elections

Unused Property Market Act

Did you know the
NRA--the National
Rifle Association-was the corporate
co-chair in 2011?

Section 1. {Definitions}

(All definitions used in this Model Bill may be changed to conform to state laws or
regulations.)

A. “Unused Property Market” shall mean any event:

1. at which two (2) or more persons offer personal property for sale or exchange, at
which a fee is charged for sale or exchange of personal property, or at which a fee is
charged to prospective buyers for admission to the area at which personal property is
offered or displayed for sale or exchange; or

2. regardless of the number of persons offering or displaying personal property or the
absence of fees at which personal property is offered or displayed for sale or exchange if
the event is held more than six (6) times in any twelve (12) month period.

B. The term Unused Property Market is interchangeable with and applicable to “Swap
Meet”, “Indoor Swap Meet”, “Flea Market”, or other similar terms regardless of whether
these events are held inside a building or outside in the open. The primary characteristic
is that these activities involve a series of sales sufficient in number, scope, and character
to constitute a regular course of business.

ALEC’s’Corporate Board
--in recent past or present

• AT&T Services, Inc.
• centerpoint360
• UPS
• Bayer Corporation
• GlaxoSmithKline
• Energy Future Holdings
• Johnson & Johnson
• Coca-Cola Company
• PhRMA
• Kraft Foods, Inc.
• Coca-Cola Co.
• Pfizer Inc.
• Reed Elsevier, Inc.
• DIAGEO
• Peabody Energy
• Intuit, Inc.
• Koch Industries, Inc.
• ExxonMobil
• Verizon
• Reynolds American Inc.
• Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
• Salt River Project
• Altria Client Services, Inc.
• American Bail Coalition
• State Farm Insurance
For more on these corporations,
search at www.SourceWatch.org.

C. The term Unused Property Market shall not mean and shall not apply to:

1. an event which is organized for the exclusive benefit of any community chest, fund,
foundation, association, or corporation organized and operated for religious, educational,
or charitable purposes, provided that no part of any admission fee or parking fee charged
vendors or prospective purchasers or the gross receipts or net earnings from the sale or
exchange of personal property, whether in the form of a percentage of the receipts or
earnings, as salary, or otherwise, inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or
person participating in the organization or conduct of the event; or

2. any event at which all of the personal property offered for sale or displayed is new, and
all persons selling, exchanging or offering or displaying personal property for sale or
exchange, are manufacturers or authorized representatives of manufacturers or
distributors.

D. The term “Unused Property Merchant” shall mean any person, other than a vendor or
merchant with an established retail store in the county, who transports an inventory of
goods to a building, vacant lot or other Unused Property Market location and who, at that
location, displays the goods for sale and sells the goods at retail or offers the goods for
sale at retail, except a person who offers five or less items of the same new and unused
merchandise for sale or exchange at an Unused Property Market.

E. The term “New and Unused Property” shall mean tangible personal property that was
acquired by the Unused Property Merchant directly from the producer, manufacturer,

Exposed

By the Center for
Media and Democracy
www.prwatch.org

wholesaler or retailer in the ordinary course of business which has never been used since
its production or manufacturing or which is in its original and unopened package or
container, if such personal property was so packaged when originally produced or
manufactured. New and Unused Property does not include property the sale of which is
already considered "used" under existing federal or state law or regulation.

F. The term “Baby Food” or “Infant Formula” shall mean any food manufactured,
packaged and labeled specifically for sale for consumption by a child under the age of 2.

G. The term “Nonprescription Drug” (may also be referred to as “Over the Counter Drug")
shall mean any nonnarcotic medicine or drug that may be sold without a prescription and
is prepackaged for use by the consumer, prepared by the manufacturer or producer for
use by the consumer, and should be properly labeled and unadulterated in accordance
with the requirements of the state food and drug laws and the federal “Food, Drug and
Cosmetic Act". The term “Nonprescription Drug” shall not include herbal products,
dietary supplements, botanical extracts or vitamins.

H. The term “Medical Device” shall mean any instrument, apparatus, implement,
machine, contrivance, implant, in vitro reagent, tool, or other similar or related article,
including any component part or accessory, required under federal law to bear the label
“Caution: Federal law requires dispensing by or on the order of a physician”; or which is
defined by federal law as a medical device and which is intended for use in the diagnosis
of disease or other conditions or in the cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of
disease in man or animals or is intended to affect the structure or any function of the
body of man or animals, which does not achieve any of its principal intended purposes
through chemical action within or on the body of man or animals and which is not
dependent upon being metabolized for achievement of any of its principal intended
purposes.

Section 2. No Unused Property Merchant shall offer at an Unused Property Market for

sale or knowingly permit the sale of Baby Food, Infant Formula, cosmetics or personal
care products, or any Nonprescription Drug or Medical Device. This section shall not apply
to a person who keeps available for public inspection a written authorization identifying
that person as an authorized representative of the manufacturer or distributor of such
product, as long as the authorization is not false, fraudulent, or fraudulently obtained.

Section 3.

A. Every Unused Property Merchant shall maintain receipts for the purchase of New and
Unused Property, as defined above. Receipts shall contain all of the following information:

1. date of the transaction;

2. name and address of the person, corporation, or entity from whom the New and
Unused Property was acquired;

3. an identification and description of the New and Unused Property acquired;

4. the price paid for such New and Unused Property;

B. It is a violation of this Act for an Unused Property Merchant required to maintain
receipts under the provisions contained herein to knowingly:

1. falsify, obliterate or destroy such receipts;

2. refuse or fail upon request to make such receipts available for inspection within a
period of time which is reasonable under the individual circumstances surrounding such
request; provided, however, nothing contained within the provisions of this item shall be
construed to require the Unused Property Merchant to possess such receipt on or about
his or her person without reasonable notice; or

3. fail to maintain the receipts required by this section for at an appropriate time.

C. The provisions of this Act shall not apply to:

Exposed

By the Center for
Media and Democracy
www.prwatch.org

1. the sale of any item regulated by federal, state, or local law, statute, act of legislature,
regulation, or ordinance, and sold in compliance with those provisions.

2. the sale of a motor vehicle or trailer that is required to be registered or is subject to the
certificate of title laws of this state;

3. the sale of wood for fuel, ice, or livestock;

4. business conducted in any industry or association trade show;

5. property, although never used, whose style, packaging or material, clearly indicates
that such property was not produced or manufactured within recent times;

6. anyone who sells by sample, catalog or brochure for future delivery.

7. the sale of arts or crafts or other merchandise by a person who produces such arts or
crafts or merchandise or by a person or persons acting on their behalf.

8. persons who make sales presentations pursuant to a prior, individualized invitation
issued to the consumer by the owner or legal occupant of the premises.

Section 4.

A. Penalty for violations of this legislation shall be as follows:

1. The first violation shall be a misdemeanor.

2. A second violation shall be a more serious misdemeanor.

3. Any third or subsequent violation shall be a felony.

[This provision is very broad and the type and degree of penalty should be considered by
each state.]

This legislation shall apply to all New and Unused Property purchased or acquired on or
after January 1, 2001.

Adopted by ALEC's Criminal Justice Task Force at the States and Nation Policy Summit
December 9, 2000. Approved by full ALEC Board of Directors January, 2001.

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Center for Media
and Democracy's
quick summary

This bill attempts to regulate swap meets and flea markets. It is a departure from ALEC's deregulatory approach and
alleged belief in "limited government and free markets," perhaps because flea markets compete to some extent with
large retailers such as Wal-Mart (which sits on the ALEC Private Sector board). This bill requires that all vendors of
unused products at flea markets keep receipts for those products. It could have an adverse effect on ethnic markets that
sell crafts and products from foreign countries, and for which receipts may not be easily obtained.