Evergreen Freedom Foundation

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The Freedom Foundation, formerly known as the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, is a libertarian think tank based in Olympia, Washington, whose mission is "to advance individual liberty, free enterprise, and limited, accountable government" by, for example, filing suit against Washington Governor Chris Gregoire for refusing "to turn over public records on more than 500 occasions in the last four years." Freedom Foundation is a member of the State Policy Network (SPN).

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

Bob Williams, founder of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, was the private sector chair of the Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as of 2011. He is also on the ALEC Board of Scholars as of 2011. In August 2011, he received ALEC's Private Sector Member of the Year Award.

Williams has been active in sponsoring model legislation and presenting it to the task force on behalf the Freedom Foundation. In 2010, Williams sponsored the "Defined Contribution Pension Reform Act" at the States and Nation Policy Summit. At the 2011 Spring Task Force Summit, Mr. Williams presented "Broken Budgets in the States" and the "Unfunded Pension Liabilities Accounting Act." His Freedom Foundation colleague, Amber Gunn, sponsored the "State Agency Lobbying Reform Act" at the same meeting. At the 2011 ALEC annual meeting, Williams presented on "State Budget Solutions."

Trent England, Vice President of Policy of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, was on the ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force as of the August 2011 Annual Meeting (the task force was later disbanded in April 2012). He gave a presentation on the Electoral College at ALEC's 2010 States and Nation Policy Summit. Mr. England also participated in a debate (“Electoral College v National Popular Vote”) against Ray Haynes of the National Popular Vote at the 2011 Annual Meeting.

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.

Ties to the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity

The Evergreen Freedom Foundation hosts writers from the ALEC-connected Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, which screens potential reporters on their “free market” views as part of the job application process. The Franklin Center funds reporters in over 40 states. Despite their non-partisan description, many of the websites funded by the Franklin Center have received criticism for their conservative bias. On its website, the Franklin Center claims it "provides 10 percent of all daily reporting from state capitals nationwide."

Franklin Center Funding

Franklin Center Director of Communications Michael Moroney told the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) in 2013 that the source of the Franklin Center's funding "is 100 percent anonymous." But 95 percent of its 2011 funding came from DonorsTrust, a spin-off of the Philanthropy Roundtable that functions as a large "donor-advised fund," cloaking the identity of donors to right-wing causes across the country (CPI did a review of Franklin's Internal Revenue Service records). Mother Jones called DonorsTrust "the dark-money ATM of the conservative movement" in a February 2013 article. Franklin received DonorTrust's second-largest donation in 2011.

The Franklin Center also receives funding from the Wisconsin-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, a conservative grant-making organization.

The Franklin Center was launched by the Chicago-based Sam Adams Alliance (SAM), a 501(c)(3) devoted to pushing free-market ideals. SAM gets funding from the State Policy Network, which is partially funded by The Claude R. Lambe Foundation. Charles Koch, one of the billionaire brothers who co-own Koch Industries, sits on the board of this foundation. SAM also receives funding from the Rodney Fund.

History

The Evergreen Freedom Foundation was founded in 1991 as a private, non-profit public policy think tank in Washington State. Its efforts center around public policy research and alternatives in these core areas: state budget and tax policy, education, labor policy, property rights, legal policy, and citizenship and governance. The Evergreen Freedom Foundation is, according to the Seattle Times, a libertarian think tank, based in Olympia, Washington, founded by Bob Williams, a former state legislator and gubernatorial candidate.

During Dino Rossi's failed attempt to gain the Washington State governorship through a court challenge to the recount process, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation provided strong ideological support. It pushed a "Voter Integrity Project," which focused on requiring voter ID to prevent voter fraud, and started a "Grassroots Washington" group.

The Evergreen Freedom Foundation neither solicits nor accepts funds from the government, according to its promotional materials. All programs and activities are funded by private donations and grants. Its funding comes from individuals, corporations, and numerous private foundations.

Funding

The Freedom Foundation's funders have included:

• The Walton Family Foundation
• The Indianapolis-based Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, founded by leading national voucher advocate Milton Friedman
• The Sarah Scaife Foundation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, controlled by national conservative figure Richard M. Scaife
• The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, a leading financial supporter of the Milwaukee voucher program and controversial contributor to far-right causes
• The Roe Foundation, founded by the late Thomas A. Roe, a prominent Heritage Foundation supporter and co-founder of the State Policy Network
• Foundation for Partnerships Trust, funded and run by William Edgerly, CEO emeritus of State Street Bank and Trust of Boston
• The Gilder Foundation, run by New York stockbroker Richard Gilder (the foundation supports conservative think tanks and voucher groups)
• Jacquelin Hume Foundation of San Francisco, run by survivors of longtime California Reagan advisor Jacquelin Hume, including William Hume

Personnel

Board of Directors

As of September 2012:

• Hans Stoker, Chairman
• Steve Neighbors, Co-Board Chairman
• Jonathan Bechtle, CEO
• Bill Conner, Trustee
• Duane Alton, Trustee
• Mary Jo Kahler, Trustee
• Barbara Kenney, Secretary
• Tim McMahon, Treasurer
• Roger Bowlin, Trustee
• Dr. Mathew Manweller, Trustee
• Lou Novak, Trustee
• Richard Rokes, Trustee
• Alvin Starkenburg, Trustee
• Harry Truitt, Trustee
• Dr. John Vasko, Trustee

Staff

As of April 2013:

Executive Leadership

• Jonathan Bechtle, CEO
• Trent England, Executive Vice President

Policy and Fellows

• Amber Gunn, Economic Policy Fellow
• Jami Lund, Education Reform Fellow
• Diana Moore, Senior Education Analyst
• Glen Morgan, Property Rights Director
• David Roland, Director of the Theodor L. Stiles Center for Liberty
• Bob Williams, Founder and Senior Fellow

Former Staff

• Bob Williams, former President
• Lois Beard - Chief Operations Officer
• Ryan Bedford - Legal Research Assistant
• S. Alex Bohler - Policy Analyst
• Denise Brandt - Volunteer Coordinator / Office Assistant
• Bob Edelman - Director, Voter Integrity Project
• Irene Endicott - Puget Sound Dev. Associate
• Marie Giger - Office Manager
• Lynn Harsh - Senior Vice President
• Cheryl Hymes - Director, Health Care Reform Center
• Gail Kramer - Financial Assistant
• Kathy McDonald - Southwest Washington Development Associate
• Juliana McMahan - Member Services Director / Executive Administrator
• Jason Mercier - Senior Budget Analyst, Economic Policy Center
• Kristen Mercier - Policy Analyst/Grant Writer
• Michael Reitz - Director and Legal Analyst, Labor Policy Center
• Marsha Richards - Director, Education Reform Center
• Joel Sorrell - Multimedia Specialist
• Booker T. Stallworth - Communications Director
• Dan Steele - Multimedia Assistant

Core Financials

2011

• Total Revenue: $2,148,032
• Total Expenses: $2,908,106
• Net Assets: $502,865

2010:

• Total Revenue: $2,680,800.00
• Total Expenses: $2,676,198.00
• Net Assets: $1,262,939.00

2009:

• Total Revenue: $2,338,192.00
• Total Expenses: $2,686,930.00
• Net Assets: $1,249,633.00

Contact Information

P.O. Box 552
Olympia, WA 98507
Telephone: 360-956-3482
Email: info@myfreedomfoundation.org
Fax: 360-352-1874
Website: http://www.effwa.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.
• Official site
• HeraldNet, "State looks to you for traffic solutions"
• Ballotpedia, "Evergeen Freedom Foundation"
• ConservaBlogs, "Please Welcome the Evergreen Freedom Foundation to CB"
• Seattle Times, "Court rules against unions in fee case"
• Seattle Times, "Union fight reaches high court"
• The Wall Street Journal, "Unions' Policy Test"
• Education Week, "Supreme Court to Hear Case on Union Fees"
• Komo TV, "Evergreen Freedom Foundation Details Boeing 7E7 Agreement"
• Media Transparency, "Evergreen Freedom Foundation" background and funding.

References

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