Heritage Action, founded in 2010 as Heritage Action for America, is a conservative advocacy organization.[2] Heritage Action, which has affiliates throughout the United States,[3][4] is a sister organization of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.[4][5]
In October 2013, Heritage Action was called a "powerhouse in a new generation of conservative groups" by HuffPost[6] and "perhaps now the most influential lobby group among Congressional Republicans" by The New York Times.[7][8]
In 2020, Jessica Anderson was selected as the organization's executive director. Anderson took a leave of absence in July 2023 from her position at Heritage Action to work at an affiliated super PAC, Sentinel Action Fund.[9] In September 2023, Kevin Roberts, president of The Heritage Foundation, was selected as president of Heritage Action, and serves "both organizations in a joint role.[10]
Heritage Action was founded in April 2010. In an announcement, Edwin Feulner, then president of The Heritage Foundation, said the organization's purpose was to harness "grassroots energy to increase the pressure on Members of Congress to embrace the Heritage Foundation’s policy recommendations." He also said the organization would not be involved in election campaigns.[11] Heritage Action's goal was to expand the political reach of The Heritage Foundation and advance the policies recommended by its researchers.[12]
The organization was launched primarily as a response to the Heritage Foundation's growing membership, and the fact that the Heritage Foundation is not allowed to back legislation due to its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. Heritage Action fulfills this role and provides a link between the think tank and grassroots conservative activists.[13]
Heritage Action began with a staff of ten, including original chief executive officer Michael A. Needham.[14][15]
In July 2010, Heritage Action launched its first advocacy campaign, targeting the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a health care reform law supported by then President Barack Obama.[13] By August 2010 the organization had helped to secure 170 Republican co-sponsors for a petition by Rep. Steve King to force a vote on repealing the healthcare reform.[16]
In September 2010, the group began a 10-day television and web campaign to persuade Democrats to sign onto a repeal of the ACA.[17]
In January 2011, the group opened its first state operations, with a presence in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, where the organization focused on mobilizing voters against the health care reform law.[18]
In August 2013, Heritage Action launched a campaign to link the ACA with laws to keep the federal government open or to increase the federal debt limit.[19]
During the shutdown, Heritage Action continued to urge lawmakers not to negotiate a measure to fully fund the government without dismantling the ACA.[19] The strategy of Heritage Action in tying the ACA to the shutdown, according to Michael Needham, the organization's CEO at the time, was to make President Obama "feel pain" because of the shutdown.[22] Senator Orrin Hatch criticized Heritage Action for warning legislators not to vote for the Senate budget compromise during the government shutdown.[23]
Heritage Action issues a Congressional scorecard, which ranks members of Congress on "votes, co-sponsorships and other legislative activity."[24] It also has established a grassroots presence outside of Washington, D.C., with professional grassroots coordinators who recruit and train conservative "Sentinel" activists.[25]
In May 2018, Timoth Chapman succeeded Needham as executive director, following Needham's departure.[26][27] Chapman previously served as Heritage Action's chief operating officer and as chief of staff to Heritage Foundation President Edwin Feulner. In March 2020, Chapman left the organization.
In 2020, the organization says it conducted grassroots work, including door-to-door issue canvassing in Iowa, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.[28] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some of these efforts were replaced for a time by phone calls.
In August 2020, Heritage Action launched a pro-police pledge "for citizens, lawmakers and candidates to stand with [the] nation's law enforcement officers."[29] Over 100 members of Congress signed the pledge.[30] The pledge was accompanied by pro-police billboards by the group in New York City, Dallas, and Atlanta.[30]
In May 2021, a leaked video of a presentation to donors, executive director Jessica Anderson cited Iowa as an example, saying "we did it quickly and we did it quietly...Little fanfare. Honestly, nobody even noticed. My team looked at each other and we're like, 'It can't be that easy'."[31]
As part of the organization's efforts on tightening election laws, it maintains a database, which includes 1,322 "proven instances of voter fraud," dating back to the mid-1980s, which includes only one instance from the 2020 election. Some of the cases in the database are incidents of fraudulent voter registration rather than voting.[32]
In 2021, according to an internal Heritage Action document, a "two-year effort" was planned to work with like-minded groups to "produce model legislation for state legislatures to adopt" and to hire lobbyists in "crucial states". The same year, Heritage Action published a report that listed its goals as limiting who can vote by mail, preventing ballot collection, banning drop boxes, enacting stricter voter identification laws, restricting early voting, and providing greater access to partisan election observers.[33][34]
Jessica Anderson, who joined Heritage Action as grassroots director in 2010, has led the organization since 2020. In 2017, Anderson served for a year in the Office of Management and Budget during the Trump administration.[35] She returned to Heritage Action as vice president in 2018, and was named executive director in 2020.[36][8] She took a leave of absence in July 2023 and Ryan Walker was named Acting Executive Director,[9] serving in that role until Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts was named president of Heritage Action in September 2023.[10] Walker now serves as executive vice president of Heritage Action,[37] and Roberts serves Heritage Action and The Heritage Foundation in a joint role.[10]
Funding
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Heritage Action is supported by individual and corporate donors, with its 2012 tax return indicating that 44 percent of its overall contributions came from donations of $5,000 or less that year.[38] Heritage Action generally does not disclose its donors, but in 2013 confirmed a $500,000 donation made by the Koch brothers.[39][31]
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