The State Policy Network
The 50-State Replication Machine
Embedded Files
Heritage Foundation and ALEC — replicated simultaneously in every state. The State Policy Network's 64 affiliated think tanks produce state-specific "research," testify before state legislatures, and provide the local credibility that makes nationally-coordinated corporate policy appear to be a homegrown state initiative. When your state legislator cites a local expert — it may be SPN. When local news quotes an independent analyst — it may be SPN. The operation is designed to be invisible.
What the State Policy Network Is
The State Policy Network was founded in 1992 by Thomas Roe, a South Carolina businessman and Heritage Foundation board trustee. Roe told President Reagan that he thought each state needed something like the Heritage Foundation. Reagan's reply was "Do something about it," which led Roe to build the network. Wikipedia
SPN now has 64 affiliated state think tanks, at least one in every state, with combined annual revenues exceeding $152 million across the network. Wikipedia
SPN is a member of ALEC. ALEC is an associate member of SPN. Their agendas are tightly coordinated: ALEC writes the model legislation with corporate members, SPN-affiliated state think tanks provide the academic legitimacy that makes it appear independently supported, and state legislators introduce it as their own proposal with local expert backing. Wikipedia
SPN's former president Tracie Sharp told an SPN annual meeting: "The grants are driven by donor intent." She added that "the donors have a very specific idea of what they want to happen." The New Yorker via CMD
After Trump's 2016 victory, Sharp told the Wall Street Journal: "We feel like for such a time as this, we've built up this network. We need to really run." They have been running ever since. Wikipedia
The Franchise Model
SPN was designed from the beginning as a franchise operation. A national agenda is developed, funded, and distributed. State think tanks customize and execute it locally while claiming to represent homegrown state interests. In 2011 SPN granted $60,000 in startup funds to the Foundation for Government Accountability to establish operations in Florida. Wikipedia
SPN provides its member think tanks with fundraising training and donor introductions, model research and policy frameworks, media operation guidance, annual conferences where member organizations share strategy and coordinate messaging, and associated litigation centers that challenge state laws and regulations.
The Academic Legitimacy Laundry
This is SPN's core function — and the reason it exists. It provides the veneer of independent, state-based academic credibility to legislation that was written by corporate lobbyists at ALEC meetings.
The mechanism works in sequence: ALEC drafts model legislation with corporate members. State legislators introduce it without disclosing its ALEC origin. SPN-affiliated state think tanks publish "independent studies" supporting the legislation. Those studies are cited in legislative testimony as evidence of local expert consensus. The legislation passes, appearing to have both democratic legitimacy and academic support.
In reality, the legislation, the research supporting it, and the testimony endorsing it all originate from the same national corporate-funded network — none of it disclosed to the public or to constituents.
The Tax Status Problem
SPN and its 64 affiliates are classified as 501(c)(3) charitable organizations — the same tax status as hospitals, universities, and food banks. Investigative reporting by The Guardian found that SPN member think tanks have orchestrated extensive lobbying and political operations while reporting little or no lobbying on their tax forms — with fundraising proposals from 40 SPN members referring to "advancing model legislation" and "candidate briefings," activities The Guardian described as activities that "arguably cross the line into lobbying." The Guardian
What SPN Has Pushed Into Law
Anti-union legislation. SPN think tanks have been central to the spread of right-to-work laws and restrictions on public sector collective bargaining. In Wisconsin, SPN-affiliated groups including the MacIver Institute coordinated support for Governor Scott Walker's 2011 legislation restricting public employee collective bargaining — a model subsequently pursued in multiple other states. Wikipedia
School privatization. SPN think tanks are the primary state-level advocates for school voucher programs, charter school expansion, and the defunding of public education — the state-level implementation arm for the Project 2025 goal of eliminating the Department of Education.
Climate and energy disinformation. SPN serves as the central hub of a coordinated 50-state campaign against renewable energy and climate policy. Koch's Stand Together Trust contributed $5 million in 2022 to SPN-affiliated think tanks specifically for this work. Energy and Policy Institute
Voter suppression SPN think tanks have promoted voter ID laws, restrictions on early voting, and other election restrictions that civil rights organizations document as disproportionately suppressing minority, elderly, and low-income voter turnout. These campaigns are coordinated with ALEC model legislation and presented as locally-generated election integrity initiatives.
Tax policy In the 2025 legislative sessions, Republican state legislators backed by SPN-affiliated groups made significant strides toward flattening or eliminating progressive state income taxes — an agenda that primarily benefits high-income earners and corporations, presented by SPN think tanks as pro-growth economic reform.
Who Funds SPN
SPN does not fully disclose its donors. What is known from IRS filings, leaked documents, and investigative reporting:
Koch network — Stand Together Trust contributed $5 million in 2022 to SPN-affiliated think tanks; DonorsTrust, the Koch network's dark money vehicle, is a major funder
Bradley Foundation — $1.6 million directly to SPN plus $6.5 million to SPN member think tanks; created the Bradley Freedom Grants Program with SPN
Corporate funders — AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Microsoft, Facebook, Kraft Foods, Reynolds tobacco, fossil fuel interests
DeVos family — education privatization agenda aligned with SPN's school choice campaigns
Walton Family Foundation — Walmart heirs funding school privatization through the SPN network
Coors family — Adolph Coors Foundation is a documented SPN funder
The same donors who fund Heritage and ALEC at the national level fund SPN and its state affiliates at the state level. The money flows through the same dark money channels — DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund — which allow donors to give anonymously while receiving a tax deduction. Wikipedia
What Can Be Done ✅
Find your state's SPN affiliate — this is the most important first step:
SPN Member Directory — identify the affiliated organization in your state
Energy and Policy Institute — SPN — tracks SPN's climate and energy disinformation campaigns and affiliate activity
SourceWatch — SPN Portal — profiles of all 64 member think tanks with funding documentation
Demand disclosure:
Contact your state legislators demanding they disclose when legislation originates from ALEC model bills or is supported by SPN-affiliated research
Support state legislation requiring disclosure of model bill sources and think tank funding in legislative testimony
File public records requests with state agencies to document coordination between SPN affiliates and state officials
Support counter-organizations:
Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) — primary investigative resource on SPN and its affiliates; ALEC Exposed and SPN Exposed are essential references
Common Cause — campaign finance reform and dark money transparency
ExposedbyCMD — real-time tracking of SPN and ALEC legislative activity in your state
Documents in this library: 📄 The State Policy Network — Organizational Profile & Threat Assessment
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