Wisconsin Policy Research Institute

Learn more about how the State Policy Network aids ALEC and spins disinformation in the states.

Learn more about corporations VOTING to rewrite our laws.

The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, or WPRI, is a conservative, free market think tank founded in 1987 and based in Hartland, Wisconsin. It calls itself "Wisconsin's Free Market Think Tank" and says it is "guided by a belief that competitive free markets, limited government, private initiative, and personal responsibility are essential to our democratic way of life." It publishes WI Magazine and WPRI Reports.

WPRI is a member of the State Policy Network (SPN), a collection of state-based conservative think tanks.

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute has ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) through Wisconsin state senator Leah Vukmir, who is an ALEC board member and the Public Chair of the ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force. Vukmir has been a Wisconsin state senator representing the 5th district since 2011. Prior to serving in the Wisconsin Senate, Sen. Vukmir was a representative in the Wisconsin Assembly for Wisconsin's 14th assembly district from 2002-2011. Sen. Vukmir has been a contributing author as well as an Institute Research Fellow at WPRI.

The WPRI is also tied to ALEC through its membership with the State Policy Network (SPN), which is an ALEC member. Please see the SourceWatch article on SPN Ties to ALEC for more.

About ALEC

ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.

Issues

The Institute has played a prominent role in the development of Wisonsin's school voucher program and has formulated recommendations for state prison policy.

The Institute partnered with the Beacon Hill Institute (BHI) on a report critiquing the recommendations from a 2007 state clean energy task force, including the state's renewable portfolio standards (RPS).

Funding

The Bradley Foundation gave the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute a $2.8 million start-up grant in 1987, and by 2010 it had given WPRI a total of $16.5 million. Between 2001 and 2010, WPRI received $7 million from the foundation.

Core Financials

2011

• Total Revenue: $695,036
• Total Expenses: $942,350
• Net Assets: $2,146,242

2010:

• Total Revenue: $1,821,093.00
• Total Expenses: $1,748,844.00
• Net Assets: $2,393,556.00

2009:

• Total Revenue: $884,047.00
• Total Expenses: $670,575.00
• Net Assets: $2,321,307.00

Personnel

Board of Directors

As of April 2013:

• James R. Klauser, Chairman (former senior vice president, Wisconsin Energy Corporation; Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration from 1986-1996 under Governor Tommy Thompson and Special Counsel to the Governor from 1994 to 1996; Board of Regents, Milwaukee school of Engineering; Board of Trustees, Carthage College)
• David Baumgarten (President, Bank Mutual; former Executive Vice President, Associated Banc-Corp; former President, Southeast Wisconsin Associated Bank; former President and CEO, US Bank, Wisconsin; former President and CEO, US Bank, Colorado; and Senior Vice President, First Bank, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Board of Directors, Metro Milwaukee Association of Commerce, Milwaukee Redevelopment Corporation, Wisconsin Procurement Institute, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee, the Greater Milwaukee Committee and Athletes for Youth)
• Catherine C. Dellin (President, Camp 5 Museum Foundation, Laona, Wisconsin)
• Thomas J. Howatt (Chairman of the Board of Directors and former President and CEO, Wausau Paper Corporation; former Chairman, Wisconsin Paper Council; Dean’s Advisory Council, Purdue University Krannert School of Management; Board of Governors, National Council for Air and Stream Improvement; Chicago Advisory Board, FM Global; Board of Directors, M&I First American Bank)
• Michael T. Jones (retired from MillerCoors in August of 2012; Board of Directors, North Shore Bank)
• David J. Lubar (President, Lubar & Co.; Boards of Directors, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Marshall & Ilsley Corp., and the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team; Board member, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Foundation, University School of Milwaukee, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Froedtert & Community Health System, Milwaukee Jewish Federation, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, and United Way of Greater Milwaukee)
• Maureen Oster (President, MBO Advisors, LLC (merged with Cleary Gull Inc. in 2003); Board of Directors, Cleary Gull Holdings; Officer, Lipper Advisory Services; Advisor, L&S Partners I, LLC; former President and Director, Heritage Investment Advisors, Inc. and the Newton Funds (acquired by Marshall & Ilsley Corp. in 1985); Director and member of the Executive Committee, No Load Mutual Fund Association; Trustee, State of Wisconsin Investment Board (one of America’s largest public pension funds); Director, Milwaukee Insurance (now part of Unitrin); Trustee, Cardinal Stritch University; former President and Director, Milwaukee Investment Analysts Society)
• 'Timothy Sheehy (President, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce; former Legislative Assistant to U.S. Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr.; Chairman of the Board, Milwaukee Economic Development Corporation; Board member, School Choice Wisconsin)
• Gerald Whitburn (Chairman, President and CEO, Church Mutual Insurance Company; Board member and former Chairman, Property Casualty Insurers Association of American (PCI); Board member and Trustee, American Institute for Charter Property Casualty Underwriters (AICPCU); Director, Natural Resources Foundation; former Secretary, Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services; former Secretary of Health and Human Services, Wisconsin (1991-1995) and Labor Secretary (1989-1991))
• Edward Zore (President and CEO, Northwestern Mutual; Board member, Manpower Inc.; Board member, American Council of Life Insurers; Member, Financial Services Roundtable; Advisory Board, The American College Center for Ethics in Financial Services; Conference Board and Advisory Board, Yale Center for Corporate Governance and Performance)
• Ave Bie (Partner, Quarles & Brady; former Chairwoman, Public Service Commission (PSC) of Wisconsin; former Deputy Secretary, Department of Corrections, Deputy Secretary, Department of Regulation and Licensing and Director of Appointments for the Office of the Governor; President of the Board of Trustees, Edgewood Campus School; Board member and executive committee, United Way of Dane County; Board member, St. Mary’s Foundation; Board of Directors, Green Bay Packers)
• Jon Hammes (Managing Partner, Hammes Company; Director, Medical College of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin Foundation, the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee, the United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Junior Achievement; Board member, Greater Milwaukee Committee and WiCab, Inc.)
• George Lightbourn, President (former Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration; Chairman, Monona Community Development Authority; Board member, WCA Services, Inc.)

Fellows

As of April 2013:

• Christian Schneider
• Sammis White, Ph.D.
• David Dodenhoff, Ph.D. (former staffer, Arizona Governor Jane Dee Hull)
• Ben Artz

Contact Information

P.O. Box 382
Hartland, WI 53029
Phone: (262) 367-9940
Web Contact Form: http://wpri.org/pages/contact.html
Web Site: http://wpri.org/

Articles and Resources

Related SourceWatch Articles

• State Policy Network:
  • SPN Funding
  • SPN Agenda
  • SPN Founders, History, and Staff
  • SPN Members
  • SPN Ties to ALEC
  • Thomas A. Roe
  • Tracie Sharp
  • Byron S. Lamm
  • Roe Foundation
• American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)
  • ALEC Non-Profits
• DonorsTrust
• Donors Capital Fund
• Koch Family Foundations
• Koch Industries
• Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity
• Heritage Foundation
• Think tanks
• Whitney Ball
• Adam Meyerson
• Bridgett Wagner

Related PRWatch Articles

• Rebekah Wilce, A Reporters’ Guide to the "State Policy Network": the Right-Wing Think Tanks Spinning Disinformation and Pushing the ALEC Agenda in the States, PRWatch.org, April 4, 2013.
• Sara Jerving, ALEC and Heartland Aim to Crush Renewable Energy Standards in the States, PRWatch.org, November 27, 2012.
• Connor Gibson, Meet the Network Hiding the Koch Money: "Donors Trust" and "Donors Capital Fund", PRWatch.org, October 29, 2012.
• Brendan Fischer, Koch-Funded Mackinac Center Brings Wisconsin Act 10 Provisions to ALEC, PRWatch.org, May 2, 2012.
• Sara Jerving, Franklin Center: Right-Wing Funds State News Source, PRWatch.org, October 31, 2011.

External Resources

• Center for Media and Democracy and Arizona Working Families, A Reporter’s Guide to the Goldwater Institute: What Citizens, Policymakers, and Reporters Should Know, organizational report, March 14, 2013.
• Paul Abowd, Center for Public Integrity, Donors use charity to push free-market policies in states, Consider the Source, February 14, 2013.
• John R. Mashey, Fake science, fakexperts, funny finances, free of tax 2, DeSmog Blog report, updated October 23, 2012, p. 74.
• Andy Kroll, The Right-Wing Network Behind the War on Unions, Mother Jones, April 25, 2011.
• Guidestar, State Policy Network, IRS filings and other organizational information about SPN.
• Center for Policy Alternatives, ALEC and the Extreme Right-Wing Agenda, organizational brochure about ALEC and SPN.
• John J. Miller, Fifty Flowers Bloom: Conservative think tanks — mini–Heritage Foundations — at the state level, National Review, November 19, 2007.
• Bridge Project, State Policy Network, online resource listing grants to SPN and SPN's connections to other groups.
• People for the American Way, State Policy Network, RightWingWatch.org, organizational resource.
• Greenpeace, Koch Industries Climate Denial Front Group: State Policy Network (SPN), organizational resource.