State Policy Network

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State Policy Network
AbbreviationSPN
PredecessorMadison Group (1986–1992)
Formation1992(31 years ago) (1992)
Founder Thomas A. Roe
Type nonprofit
57-0952531
Legal status 501(c)(3)
Purposepromote public policy from a framework of limited government
Headquarters1655 N. Fort Myer Dr., Ste 360, Arlington, Virginia, U.S.
President
Tracie Sharp
Chairman
Carl O Helstrom III
Revenue (2021)
$24,770,462 [lower-alpha 1]
Expenses (2021)$18,730,675 [lower-alpha 1]
Website SPN.org

The State Policy Network (SPN) is a nonprofit organization that serves as a network for conservative and libertarian think tanks focusing on state-level policy in the United States. [1] [2] [3] The network serves as a public policy clearinghouse and advises its member think tanks on fundraising, running a nonprofit, and communicating ideas. [4] Founded in 1992, it is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, with member groups located in all fifty states.

Contents

Overview

SPN describes itself as a "professional service organization" for a network of state-level think tanks across the United States. [5] [6] [7] The president of SPN is Tracie Sharp, formerly the executive director of the Cascade Policy Institute, SPN's Oregon affiliate. [8] She has described her organizing philosophy as "the IKEA model", because like a ready-to-assemble furniture retailer, the network offers a catalog of policy projects that state-level groups can build. [9]

History

The State Policy Network was founded in 1992 by Thomas A. Roe, [10] a South Carolina businessman who was a member of the board of trustees of The Heritage Foundation. [11] Roe told U.S. President Ronald Reagan that he thought each of the states needed something like the Heritage Foundation. Reagan's reply was "do something about it," which led Roe to establish the South Carolina Policy Council (SCPC). [12] SCPC adapted Heritage Foundation national policy recommendations, such as school choice and environmental deregulation, to the state legislative level. [13]

SPN was an outgrowth of the Madison Group, a collection of state-level think tanks in states including South Carolina, Colorado, Illinois, and Michigan that had been meeting periodically at the Madison Hotel in Washington, D.C. Roe was chairman of the board of directors of SPN from its founding until his death in 2000. [14] Gary Palmer, co-founder and president of the conservative think tank the Alabama Policy Institute from 1989 until 2014, helped found SPN and served as its president. [15]

Initially, SPN's network consisted of fewer than 20 member organizations. [15] Lawrence Reed, the first president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a Michigan-based free market think tank, fostered new state-level regular member organizations through delivery of his think tank training course. [16] By the mid-1990s, SPN had a network of 37 think tanks in 30 states. [13] By 2014, there were 65 member organizations, including at least one in each state. [14] [15]

Starting in 1993, the SPN has held an annual meeting in various U.S. cities. These meetings serve as a chance for members to discuss and analyze policy priorities, train and build members, and refine operations, among other topics. [17]

Policy positions

Policy initiatives supported by SPN members have included reductions in state health and welfare programs, state constitutional amendments to limit state government spending, expanded access to charter schools, and school vouchers. [16] [18] Another area of activity has been opposition to public-sector trade unions. [11] Tracie Sharp, SPN's president, has said the organization focuses on issues such as "workplace freedom, education reform, and individual choice in healthcare." [19]

The liberal magazine Mother Jones stated that in 2011 SPN and its member organizations were backing a "war on organized labor" by Republican state lawmakers. [11] Legislative actions taken by the GOP included the introduction and enactment of bills reducing or eliminating collective bargaining for teachers and other government workers and reducing the authority of unions to collect dues from government employees. [11] In Iowa, Governor Terry Branstad cited research by the Public Interest Institute, an SPN affiliate in Iowa, when asking to amend laws to limit collective bargaining by public employees. [11]

In December 2013, The Guardian , in collaboration with The Texas Observer and the Portland Press Herald , obtained, published and analyzed 40 grant proposals from SPN regular member organizations. The grant proposals sought funding through SPN from the Searle Freedom Trust. According to The Guardian, the proposals documented a coordinated strategy across 34 states, "a blueprint for the conservative agenda in 2014." The reports described the grant proposals in six states as suggesting campaigns designed to cut pay to state government employees; oppose public sector collective bargaining; reduce public sector services in education and healthcare; promote school vouchers; oppose efforts to combat greenhouse gas emissions; reduce or eliminate income and sales taxes; and study a proposed block grant reform to Medicare. [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]

Political influence

In 2006, three former presidents of SPN member organizations were serving as Republicans in the United States House of Representatives: Mike Pence of Indiana, Jeff Flake of Arizona, and Tom Tancredo of Colorado. [16] National Review described them as having "used SPN organizations as political springboards." [12]

SPN introduced model legislation for state legislators to implement on the state level to undermine the Affordable Care Act. [24] The organization also pushed for states not to expand Medicaid. [24]

Finances

SPN is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Its independently audited 2013 Internal Revenue Service Form 990 showed $8 million in revenue and $8.4 million in expenditures, of which $1.3 million was used for grants and payments to other organizations. [25] [26] The organization received a Charity Navigator score of 88 out of 100 in its most recent evaluation. [25]

In 2013, Sharp told Politico that like most nonprofits, SPN keeps its donors private and voluntary. [27] In 2011, Mother Jones reported that SPN is largely funded by donations from foundations, including the Lovett and Ruth Peters Foundation, the Castle Rock Foundation, and the Bradley Foundation. [11] A 2013 article by The Guardian said that SPN received funding from the Koch brothers, Philip Morris, Kraft Foods and GlaxoSmithKline. [19] Other corporate donors to SPN have included Facebook, Microsoft, AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, and Comcast. [28] [29] Between 2008 and 2013, SPN received $10 million from Donors Trust, a nonprofit donor-advised fund. In 2011, the approximately $2 million investment from Donors Trust accounted for about 40% of annual revenue. [30]

Finances for fiscal year 2021 (latest available) consist of: revenue of $24,770,462; expenses of $18,730,675; and donations of $24,340,115. [31]

Activities

SPN provides grant funding to its member organizations for start-up costs and program operating expenses. [11] [19] [26] [30] In 2011, SPN granted $60,000 in start-up funds to the Foundation for Government Accountability, a free market think tank based in Naples, Florida. [32] SPN also provides practical support to its members, who meet each year at SPN conferences. SPN member organizations exchange ideas and provide training and other support for each other. [16] A spokesperson for the progressive advocacy group People for the American Way said in 2008 that SPN trained its member organizations to run like business franchises. [33] In a 2013 statement to The New Yorker , SPN president Sharp denied that SPN was a franchise and said that member organizations were free to select their own staff and priorities. [9]

SPN is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization that drafts and shares state-level model legislation for conservative causes, [34] and ALEC is an associate member of SPN. [27] SPN is among the sponsors of ALEC. [30] A 2009 article in an SPN newsletter encouraged SPN members to join ALEC, [35] and many SPN members are also members of ALEC. [36] ALEC is "SPN's sister organisation," according to The Guardian . [19]

SPN member think tanks aided the Tea Party movement by supplying rally speakers and intellectual ammunition. [37]

Member organizations

As of 2015, SPN had a membership of 65 think tanks and hundreds of affiliated organizations in all 50 states. [38] Membership in SPN is by invitation only and is limited to independently incorporated 501(c)(3) organizations that are "dedicated to advancing market-oriented public policy solutions." [39] The SPN membership program consists of affiliate and associate organizations. While affiliate members are state-based, associate members are national in scope and are not necessarily focused on a single state. [40] According to Politico , SPN's associate members include a "who’s who of conservative organizations," including the Cato Institute, Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity Foundation, FreedomWorks, Americans for Tax Reform, and American Legislative Exchange Council. [27] In 2011, SPN and its regular member organizations received combined total revenues of $83.2 million, according to a 2013 analysis of their federal tax filings by the liberal watchdog group Center for Media and Democracy. [27] [20]

Affiliates

Regular members are described as "full-service think tanks" operating independently within their respective states. [39] [41]

Roe Awards

The Roe Award, first presented in 1992, is named after SPN founder Thomas A. Roe. It honors individuals who have successfully promoted free market philosophy while displaying innovation and accomplishment in public policy. The physical statue is an eagle, "a symbol of liberty with courage and conviction necessary for its preservation". [42]

Overton Award

The Overton Award was created in 2003 after the death of Joseph P. Overton at age 43. Overton is known for the idea, posthumously called the Overton window, about the range of policies politically acceptable to the mainstream at a given time. [43]

The award is given to chief operating officers or executive vice presidents of non-profit free market organizations who demonstrate the personal qualities that Overton possessed. These include humility in supporting their peers, leadership that builds a team, and developing strategies that magnify the ideas and influence of their organization. As of 2022, the award had been given five times. [44] [45]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 IRS Form-990 yr2021

Related Research Articles

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share model legislation for distribution among state governments in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mackinac Center for Public Policy</span> American non-profit free market think tank

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland, Michigan, is the largest U.S. state-based free market think tank in the United States. The Mackinac Center conducts policy research and educational programs. The Center sponsors MichiganVotes.org, an online legislative voting record database which provides a non-partisan summary of every bill and vote in the Michigan legislature. Mackinac Center scholars generally recommend lower taxes, reduced regulatory authority for state agencies, right-to-work laws, school choice, and enhanced protection of individual property rights; they avoid socially conservative issues such as reproductive or marriage rights.

The Heritage Foundation is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, whose policies were taken from Heritage's policy study Mandate for Leadership.

The Koch family foundations are a group of charitable foundations in the United States associated with the family of Fred C. Koch. The most prominent of these are the Charles Koch Foundation and the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation, created by Charles Koch and David Koch, two sons of Fred C. Koch who own the majority of Koch Industries, an oil, gas, paper, and chemical conglomerate which is the US's second-largest privately held company. Charles' and David's foundations have provided millions of dollars to a variety of organizations, including libertarian and conservative think tanks. Areas of funding include think tanks, political advocacy, climate change denial, higher education scholarships, cancer research, arts, and science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fraser Institute</span> Canadian public policy think tank

The Fraser Institute is a libertarian-conservative Canadian public policy think tank and registered charity. The institute describes itself as independent and non-partisan. It is headquartered in Vancouver, with additional offices in Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal. The institute has ties to a global network of think tanks in 87 countries, including 80 through the Economic Freedom Network. According to the January 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report, Fraser is number 14 in the "Top Think Tanks Worldwide" and number 1 in the "Top Think Tanks in Mexico and Canada".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban Institute</span> Washington, D.C.–based think tank

The Urban Institute is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that conducts economic and social policy research to "open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions". The institute receives funding from government contracts, foundations and private donors. The Urban Institute measures policy effects, compares options, shows which stakeholders get the most and least, tests conventional wisdom, reveals trends, and makes costs, benefits, and risks explicit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center on Budget and Policy Priorities</span> Political think tank

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) is a progressive American think tank that analyzes the impact of federal and state government budget policies. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Center's stated mission is to "conduct research and analysis to help shape public debates over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that policymakers consider the needs of low-income families and individuals in these debates."

The Franklin News Foundation, previously the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, is an American online nonprofit news organization that publishes news and commentary from a conservative and free market, limited government perspective on state and local politics. Its journalism platform is called The Center Square. Founded in 2009 in North Dakota, it moved to Virginia and is now based in Chicago.

The Center Square, formerly Watchdog.org, is an American news website that features reporting on state and local government. It is a project of the Franklin News Foundation, a conservative-leaning online news organization. The Center Square distributes its content through a newswire service.

The Koch family is an American family engaged in business, best known for their political activities and their control of Koch Industries, the 2nd largest privately owned company in the United States. The family business was started by Fred C. Koch, who developed a new cracking method for the refinement of heavy crude oil into gasoline. Fred's four sons litigated against each other over their interests in the business during the 1980s and 1990s.

Charles G. and David H. Koch (1940–2019), commonly referred to as the Koch brothers, have become famous for their financial and political influence in United States politics with a libertarian, more so, right-libertarian or American-style libertarian political stance. From around 2004 to 2019, with "foresight and perseverance", the brothers organized like-minded wealthy libertarian-oriented conservatives, spent hundreds of millions of dollars of their own money to build an "integrated" and "stealth" network of think tanks, foundations, "grassroots" movements, academic programs, advocacy and legal groups to "destroy the prevalent statist paradigm" and reshape public opinion to favor minimal government. As of mid 2018, the media has been encouraged to refer to the "Koch network" rather than the "Koch brothers".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maine Policy Institute</span> Conservative free-market think tank

The Maine Policy Institute (MPI), formerly the Maine Heritage Policy Center, is a conservative free-market think tank located in Portland, Maine. According to its mission statement, MPI is a "nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that conducts detailed and timely research to educate the public, the media, and lawmakers about public policy solutions that advance economic freedom and individual liberty in Maine." The organization has an associated media outlet, The Maine Wire.

Donors Trust is an American nonprofit donor-advised fund. It was founded in 1999 with the goal of "safeguarding the intent of libertarian and conservative donors". As a donor advised fund, Donors Trust is not legally required to disclose the identity of its donors, and most of its donors remain anonymous. It distributes funds to various conservative and libertarian organizations, and has been characterized as the "dark money ATM" of the political right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center for Media and Democracy</span> Non-profit organization in the US

The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a progressive nonprofit watchdog and advocacy organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. CMD publishes ExposedbyCMD.org, SourceWatch.org, and ALECexposed.org.

The Roe Award is an annual award given by the State Policy Network that "pays tribute to those in the state public policy movement whose achievements have greatly advanced the free market philosophy" and "recognizes leadership, innovation and accomplishment in public policy." Established in 1992, it is named after the late founder of the State Policy Network, Thomas A. Roe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas A. Roe</span> American businessman and conservative philanthropist (1927–2000)

Thomas Anderson Roe Jr. (1927–2000) was an American businessman, philanthropist, and conservative activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Overton</span> American political theorist (1960–2003)

Joseph Paul Overton was an American political scientist who served as the senior vice president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. He is best known for his work in the mid-1990s developing an idea since known as the Overton window.

Donors Capital Fund is a nonprofit United States donor-advised charity that distributes grants to conservative and libertarian organizations. Donors Capital Fund is associated with Donors Trust, another donor-advised fund.

The Searle Freedom Trust is a 501(c)(3) grant-making foundation located in the United States. It was established by business executive Daniel C. Searle in 1998. As of 2017, the trust had an endowment of $141 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illinois Policy Institute</span> Libertarian think tank

The Illinois Policy Institute(IPI) is a libertarian and conservative nonprofit think tank with offices in Chicago and Springfield. Founded in 2002, it is active in the areas of education policy, pension policy, and state budget issues. IPI advocates for smaller government and lower taxes. It has an affiliated lobbying arm and legal arm. IPI is a member of the State Policy Network, a consortium of free-market think tanks in the U.S.

References

  1. ↑ Fund, John (28 September 2000). "Forget Washington". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  2. ↑ Boucher, Dave (24 May 2015). "Beacon Center grows, helps defeat Insure TN". The Tennessean. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  3. ↑ McCormack, John (21 December 2007). "Google Government Gone Viral". Weekly Standard.
  4. ↑ Caldwell, Patrick (7 March 2013). "Outmatched". The American Prospect. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  5. ↑ Matthew Medvetz, Thomas (2007). Think Tanks and Production of Policy-knowledge in America. University of California, Berkeley. p. 168. ISBN   978-0549529002.
  6. ↑ Marley, Patrick; Stein, Jason (2013). More Than They Bargained For: Scott Walker, Unions, and the Fight for Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 37. ISBN   978-0299293833.
  7. ↑ Dagan, David; Teles, Steven (November–December 2012). "The Conservative War on Prisons". Washington Monthly. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  8. ↑ Fang, Lee (15 April 2013). "The Right Leans In". The Nation . Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  9. 1 2 Mayer, Jane (14 November 2013). "Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?". The New Yorker. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  10. ↑ "About". State Policy Network. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kroll, Andy (25 April 2011). "The Right-Wing Network Behind the War on Unions". Mother Jones . Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  12. 1 2 Miller, John J. (19 November 2007). "Fifty flowers bloom: Conservative think tanks—mini-Heritage Foundations—at the state level". National Review . Vol. 59, no. 21. pp. 42–44.
  13. 1 2 Fang, Lee (2013). The Machine: A Field Guide to the Resurgent Right. New York: The New Press. p.  199. ISBN   9781595586391.
  14. 1 2 "History". State Policy Network. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  15. 1 2 3 Barnes, Fred (22 May 2014). "A Conservative Candidate of Character, Conviction, Knowledge, and Leadership". The Weekly Standard . Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Jason Deparle, Right-of-Center Guru Goes Wide With the Gospel of Small Government, New York Times , November 17, 2006
  17. ↑ "State Policy Network Annual Meeting". Atlas Network. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  18. ↑ "America's Next Tax Revolt". Wall Street Journal. 17 June 2005. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 Pilkington, Ed; Goldenberg, Suzanne (5 December 2013). "State conservative groups plan US-wide assault on education, health and tax". The Guardian . London . Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  20. 1 2 "State conservative groups plan public sector assault". United Press International. 6 December 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  21. ↑ Woodard, Colin (5 December 2013). "Washington County residents have mixed reactions to plan to eliminate taxes". Portland Press Herald . Portland, Maine . Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  22. ↑ Wilder, Forrest (5 December 2013). "The Money Behind the Fight to Undermine Medicaid". Texas Observer . Austin, Texas . Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  23. ↑ Kroll, Andy (5 December 2013). "Conservative Think Tank Network Plotting "Coordinated Assault" on Medicaid, Education, Workers' Rights". Mother Jones . Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  24. 1 2 Hertel-Fernandez, Alex (2019). State Capture: How Conservative Activists, Big Businesses, and Wealthy Donors Reshaped the American States — and the Nation. Oxford University Press. p. 4. ISBN   978-0-19-087079-9.
  25. 1 2 State Policy Network, Charity Navigator website, accessed February 17, 2015
  26. 1 2 "2013 Form 990 State Policy Network" (PDF). Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  27. 1 2 3 4 Kopan, Tal (13 November 2013). "Report: Think tanks tied to Kochs". Politico . Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  28. ↑ Pilkington, Ed (14 November 2013). "Facebook and Microsoft help fund rightwing lobby network, report finds". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  29. ↑ Gold, Hadas (10 January 2014). "PunditFact rates Rachel Maddow's Koch claim 'Mostly False'". Politico. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  30. 1 2 3 Abowd, Paul. "Koch-funded charity passes money to free-market think tanks in states". NBC News . Center for Public Integrity . Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  31. ↑ "State Policy Network - IRS Form-990 yr2021". ProPublica - Nonprofit Explorer. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  32. ↑ Keller, Amy (7 October 2013). "Florida's Think Tanks - Newcomers". Florida Trend . Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  33. ↑ Jeff Woods, The Great Gadfly: How a baby-faced kid became the governor's No. 1 nemesis, Nashville Scene , September 11, 2008
  34. ↑ Cohen, Rick (14 November 2013). "Corporate Money in Network of Right-Wing State Policy Think Tanks". Nonprofit Quarterly. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  35. ↑ "SPN & ALEC: A Model Relationship". State Policy Network. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  36. ↑ Blumenthal, Paul (14 November 2013). "Meet The Little-Known Network Pushing Ideas For Kochs, ALEC". The Huffington Post .
  37. ↑ Markon, Jerry (1 February 2010). "New media help conservatives get their anti-Obama message out". Washington Post . Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  38. ↑ Hertel-Fernandez, Alexander; Skocpol, Theda (8 April 2015). "Why U.S. conservatives shape state legislation more effectively than liberals". Journalist's Resource. Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center and the Carnegie-Knight Initiative. Scholars Strategy Network. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  39. 1 2 "Membership Program". State Policy Network. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  40. ↑ "Membership Program".
  41. ↑ "Directory". State Policy Network. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  42. ↑ "The Roe Awards". SPN.org. State Policy Network. Archived from the original on 26 November 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  43. ↑ Giridharadas, Anand (21 November 2019). "How America's Elites Lost Their Grip". Time. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  44. ↑ "SPN's Overton Award: Celebrating Outstanding Nonprofit Leadership". SPN.org. State Policy Network. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  45. ↑ "FGA COO JONATHAN BECHTLE RECEIVES OVERTON AWARD". theFGA.org. Foundation for Government Accountability. Retrieved 21 February 2022.

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