State and Regional Think Tanks and Advocacy Groups

From a report by the NCRP

In an era where devolution of authority from the federal to state governments remains a key philosophical element of the conservative agenda, conservative funders have been careful to build the conservative policy movement at the state level. Over $9 million was awarded (1992-1994) to policy institutions with a primary focus on state policy issues or regional concerns. The growth of state policy organizations has been extensive, with over 60 state or regionally-based conservative think tanks built over the 1980s and early 1990s to capitalize on devolutionary policies pursued by the Reagan Administration.

Top groups include the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute and the California-based Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy. Since its inception, the Institute in Wisconsin has been heavily funded by the Bradley Foundation and has been active in its efforts to shape state education and welfare policy in accordance with key conservative principles. The Pacific Institute most recently was an active proponent of California's Proposition 209, the ballot initiative intended to eliminate affirmative action in that state.

Another grantee, the Heartland Institute, publishes Intellectual Ammunition, a glossy, 25-page news and information journal. The journal issues in condensed form the policy statements and position papers of most of the think tanks and advocacy organizations to which the 12 foundations directed grants between 1992 and 1994. The May/June 1996 issue introduced one of the Institute's newest innovations, PolicyFax, an insert to appear regularly. In a written welcome/introduction to the first PolicyFax insert, Illinois state senator Chris Lauzen (R) described the service in the following terms:

PolicyFax is a revolutionary public policy fax-on-demand research service that enables you to receive, by fax, the full text of thousands of documents from more than one hundred of the nation's leading think tanks, publications, and trade associations. PolicyFax is easy to use, and it's free for elected officials and journalists [emphasis added].

The 24-hour a day, seven day a week service transmits requested documents instantaneously, with topics ranging from crime to the economy to welfare. Titles include South Carolinians Have Nothing to Worry about from Concealed Handguns, Four Steps to Reforming Superfund, Medical Savings accounts: The Right Way to Reform Health Care, Benefits of the Flat Tax and Effective Compassion.

The foundations have also provided support to two networking institutions, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the newer State Policy Network. Both are devoted to supporting the conservative policy movement at the state level through the provision of technical assistance, the development of model legislation, communications activities and conferences.

ALEC, well-funded by private family foundations and corporate contributors, is a powerful and growing membership organization, with almost 26,000 state legislative members and 30 staff. In 1994, over one-third of the nation's state legislators were members. The organization, which responds to approximately 700 requests for information each month, has developed more than 150 pieces of model legislation. It maintains legislative task forces on every important state policy issue, including education, health care, tax and fiscal policy, and criminal justice.

While the $9.3 million awarded to support state policy institutions represents a substantial sum of grant money, a good deal more cash goes to support state-level policy initiatives. Many of the conservative foundations' national grantees maintain an active interest in the state policy movement.

Having pushed for devolution at the federal level, national think tanks have worked to influence state level policy decisions and/or to cultivate and support state policy groups. The heavily-funded Manhattan Institute, for example, which works to influence national policy, has also sought to influence state and local policy decisions in New York. The Center for the Study of Market Processes recently announced that it is expanding its Policymaker Education Program to the states, with pilot programs to be initiated for state legislatures in Texas and Minnesota. Both were among the top 25 grantees over the 1992-1994 period, receiving over $2 million in awards.

The Hoover Institution has also helped support the state policy movement recently, holding a conference in 1995 for leaders of state-based think tanks and policy research organizations to assist them in more effectively using information technologies. And the Heritage Foundation has played a leading role in the state policy movement, housing the American Legislative Exchange Council, organizing annual conferences for state think tanks, publishing its resource guide to public policy experts, and in general serving as a model for effective policy research and marketing activities.

SECTORS

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CONSERVATIVE PHILANTHROPY

State and Regional Think Tanks and Advocacy Groups

From a report by the NCRP

OTHER LINKS

Grants to top State & Regional Think Tanks & Advocacy Groups

Wisconsin Policy Research Institute

Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy

Heartland Institute

American Legislative Exchange Council

State Policy Network

Heritage Clones in the Heartland