Reports Expose Extreme Pressure Groups Masquerading as Think Tanks | PR Watch

Reports Expose Extreme Pressure Groups Masquerading as Think Tanks | PR Watch:

Reports Expose Extreme Pressure Groups Masquerading as Think Tanks

Center for Media and Democracy and Progress Now Reports Show Expansive Reach Of State Policy Network

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Rebekah Wilce, (608) 260-9713, rebekah@prwatch.org

Twelve new reports released today expose the State Policy Network (SPN), an $83 million web of right-wing "think tanks" in every state across the country. Although SPN's member organizations claim to be nonpartisan and independent, an in-depth investigation reveals that SPN and its state affiliates are major drivers of the 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. The reports show how these groups masquerade as "think tanks," and describe how some of them may be skirting tax laws while really orchestrating extensive lobbying and political operations to peddle their legislative agenda to state legislators, all while reporting little or no lobbying activities.

"The 'experts' of State Policy Network groups get quoted on TV, in the papers, or in the legislature as if they were nonpartisan, objective scholars on issues of public policy," said Lisa Graves, Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). "But in reality, SPN is a front for corporate interests with an extreme national policy agenda tied to some of the most retrograde special interests in the country, including the billionaire Koch