Lone Star Policy Institute
The Lone Star Policy Institute (LSPI) is a right-wing, Texas-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has been tax exempt since 2018.[1]
Founding Director Michael Wood wrote about the organization, "Initially, LSPI will host a series of social events, lectures, and debates that bring together like-minded individuals in North Texas interested in public policy. Eventually, LSPI will hire a full-time research staff that will analyze issues such as economic freedom, occupational licensing reform, criminal justice reform, poverty alleviation, corporate welfare, transportation, healthcare, taxes, public education, and public pension reform."[2]
LSPI is an associate member of the State Policy Network, a group of right-wing think tanks and politically-active nonprofits.
Contents
Ties to the State Policy Network
The Lone Star Policy Institute is an associate member of the State Policy Network, a group of right-wing think tanks and politically-active nonprofits. SPN is a web of right-wing “think tanks” and tax-exempt organizations in 50 states, Washington, D.C., Canada, and the United Kingdom. As of April 2023, SPN's membership totals 163. Today's SPN is the tip of the spear of far-right, nationally funded policy agenda in the states that undergirds extremists in the Republican Party. SPN Executive Director Tracie Sharp told the Wall Street Journal in 2017 that the revenue of the combined groups was some $80 million, but a 2022 analysis of SPN's main members IRS filings by the Center for Media and Democracy shows that the combined revenue is over $152 million.[3] Although SPN's member organizations claim to be nonpartisan and independent, the Center for Media and Democracy's in-depth investigation, "EXPOSED: The State Policy Network -- The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government," reveals that SPN and its member think tanks are major drivers of the right-wing, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)-backed corporate agenda in state houses nationwide, with deep ties to the Koch brothers and the national right-wing network of funders.[4]
In response to CMD's report, SPN Executive Director Tracie Sharp told national and statehouse reporters that SPN affiliates are "fiercely independent." Later the same week, however, The New Yorker's Jane Mayer caught Sharp in a contradiction. In her article, "Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?," the Pulitzer-nominated reporter revealed that, in a recent meeting behind closed doors with the heads of SPN affiliates around the country, Sharp "compared the organization’s model to that of the giant global chain IKEA." She reportedly said that SPN "would provide 'the raw materials,' along with the 'services' needed to assemble the products. Rather than acting like passive customers who buy finished products, she wanted each state group to show the enterprise and creativity needed to assemble the parts in their home states. 'Pick what you need,' she said, 'and customize it for what works best for you.'" Not only that, but Sharp "also acknowledged privately to the members that the organization's often anonymous donors frequently shape the agenda. 'The grants are driven by donor intent,' she told the gathered think-tank heads. She added that, often, 'the donors have a very specific idea of what they want to happen.'"[5]
A set of coordinated fundraising proposals obtained and released by The Guardian in early December 2013 confirm many of these SPN members' intent to change state laws and policies, referring to "advancing model legislation" and "candidate briefings." These activities "arguably cross the line into lobbying," The Guardian notes.[6]
Core Financials
2017[7]
- Total Revenue: (none)
- Total Expenses: (none)
- Net Assets: (none)
Personnel
Staff
As of February 2021:[8]
- Nicholas Kerr, Adjunct Scholar
- Lindsay Marie, Criminal Justice Policy Analyst; Foundation for Economic Education contributor
- Franklin J. Parker, Free Enterprise Analyst
- James Savage, Director of Communications
- Meg Tuszynski, Texas Policy Fellow; former Mercatus Center Program Manager for the Spending and Budget Initiative
Board of Directors
As of February 2021:[8]
- Michael Wood, founding director; former National Review Institute Regional Fellow
- Doug McCullough; member, Federalist Society; former National Review Institute Regional Fellow
- Kristina Kiik; former National Review Institute Regional Fellow
Contact Information
Lone Star Policy Institute
8390 Lyndon B Johnson Freeway, Suite 570
Dallas, Texas 75243
EIN: 82-3461092
Web: https://lonestarpolicyinstitute.org/
Phone: (214) 800-5590
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lonestarpolicy/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lonestarpolicyinstitute/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LoneStarPolicy
Articles and Resources
IRS Form 990 Filings
2017
Related SourceWatch
- 501(c)(3)
- Federalist Society
- Foundation for Economic Education
- Mercatus Center
- National Review Institute
- SPN Members
- State Policy Network
References
- ↑ Guidestar, Lone Star Policy Institute, organizational website, accessed February 18, 2021.
- ↑ Lone Star Policy Institute, Our Vision, organizational website, accessed February 18, 2021.
- ↑ David Armiak, State Policy Network and Affiliates Raises $152 Million Annually to Push Right-Wing Policies, ExposedbyCMD, September 30, 2022.
- ↑ Rebekah Wilce, Center for Media and Democracy, EXPOSED: The State Policy Network -- The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government, organizational report, November 13, 2013.
- ↑ Jane Mayer, Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?, The New Yorker, November 15, 2013.
- ↑ Ed Pilkington and Suzanne Goldenberg, State conservative groups plan US-wide assault on education, health and tax, The Guardian, December 5, 2013.
- ↑ Lone Star Policy Institute, 2017 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, November 15, 2018.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lone Star Policy Institute, Leadership, organizational website, accessed February 18, 2021.
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