The state of Washington is home to two State Policy Network (SPN) think tanks: the Olympia-based Freedom Foundation

(formerly Evergreen Freedom Foundation) and the Seattle-based Washington Policy Center (WPC). SPN is an umbrella group of right-wing think tanks across the country. While the two think tanks claim to be focused on issues important to the people of Washington, they actually push an agenda dictated by their national right-wing funders and partners, including the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Both the Freedom Foundation and WPC are active members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a controversial national right-wing organization where lawmakers and corporate lobbyists come together to vote on model legislation behind closed doors, with no public input, to be introduced in state legislatures across the country. Not surprisingly, these bills, which often become law, end up helping the corporations bottom line. The Freedom Foundation has a long history of working with ALEC. Freedom Foundation founder Bob Williams has been a member of ALECs Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force, a member of ALECs Board of Scholars, and received ALECs Privative Sector Member of the Year award in 2011. ALEC documents show the Freedom Foundation has also been involved in ALECs Commerce, Insurance, and Economic Development Task Force, Education Task Force, and Public Safety and Elections Task Force. Washington Policy Center President Daniel Mead Smith represents WPC as the ALEC state co-chair for the state of Washington as of August 2011. In addition, WPC has been a member of or has been involved in ALECs Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force, Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force, Communications and Technology Task Force, Education Task Force, and Public Safety and Elections Task Force.

Oppose efforts to raise the minimum wage Repeal sick leave laws for Washington workers Defund and privatize Washington public schools through vouchers Repeal prevailing wage laws Oppose gun safety measures

Restrict workers collective bargaining rights Block access to affordable healthcare Oppose renewable energy and pollution protections

Freedom Foundation, accessed 9/4/2013 Washington Policy Center, accessed 9/4/2013

The Freedom Foundation has been a longtime supporter of voter suppression proposals, including controversial voter ID laws, which attacks access to ballots for minorities, young people, and the elderly. In its 2006 report, A Blueprint for Change: Recommendations on Election Reform for States, the Freedom Foundation called the process of mail voting an alarming trend and advocated for states to implement strict voter ID laws. The Freedom Foundation has continued to release reports calling for voter ID laws since 2006. Since Washington implemented its vote-by-mail system, the Freedom Foundation has challenged the voting system in court at least once and has continued to release reports against the vote-by-mail system. The Freedom Foundation has also been an active member of ALECs Public Safety and Elections Task Force, which produced model voter suppression bills like the Voter ID Act. ALEC disbanded the task force in 2012 after public criticism of its voter suppression and pro-gun model bills.

The Freedom Foundations and Washington Policy Centers primary funding appears to come from out-of-state right-wing organizations. Both groups largest known donors are the Koch-funders Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund, which have been called the dark money ATM of the conservative movement. Included in the Donors funding was $40,000 to WPC and $7,800 to the Freedom Foundation for their participation in ALEC. Other WPC and Freedom Foundation right-wing funders includes the Coors familys Castle Rock Foundation (of Coors Brewing Company), the Walton Family Foundation (of Walmart), the Roe Foundation (of SPN founder Thomas Roe), and the State Policy Network. All of the Freedom Foundation and WPCs known funders are based outside of Washington:

FUNDER Donors Trust/Donors Capital Fund The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Sarah Scaife Foundation Jaquelin Hume Foundation The Roe Foundation Walton Family Foundation F.M. Kirby Foundation Chase Foundation of Virginia Castle Rock Foundation The Randolph Foundation William H. Donner Foundation State Policy Network Hickory Foundation JM Foundation Searle Freedom Trust Gilder Foundation The Vernon K. Krieble Foundation

BASED IN Virginia Wisconsin Pennsylvania California South Carolina Arkansas New Jersey Virginia Colorado New York New York Virginia New Jersey New York Illinois New York Massachusetts

AMOUNT $1,862,053 $610,500 $410,000 $407,405 $375,000 $350,000 $300,000 $159,860 $135,000 $100,000 $100,000 $90,914 $90,500 $75,000 $48,000 $30,000 $8,000

YEARS 2002-2011 1997-2009 1997-2007 1999-2010 1998-2011 1998-2002 2000-2011 2001-2011 1997-2011 2000-2007 1998-2000 2002-2011 1998-2009 1999-2011 2008 1999-2004 2001-2010

FUNDER Donors Trust/Donors Capital Fund The Roe Foundation JM Foundation Jaquelin Hume Foundation State Policy Network John M. Olin Foundation Castle Rock Foundation PhRMA

BASED IN Virginia South Carolina New York California Virginia New York Colorado Washington, DC

AMOUNT $545,275 $195,000 $90,000 $85,000 $82,954 $64,000 $40,000 $10,500

YEARS 2008-2011 2000-2011 2003-2009 2006-2011 2002-2011 1993-1998 2003-2009 2010

While 501c3 nonprofits are prohibited from partisan campaign and political activity by IRS, both the Freedom Foundation and Washington Policy Center have apparently made political contributions to Republican committees in Washington, according to campaign finance records. The Freedom Foundation has made 14 political contributions between 2002 and 2010 totaling $2,003.36 to Republican campaign committees, including to the Washington State Republican Party and the King County Republican Central Committee. Similarly, the Washington Policy Center has made 12 political contributions between 2006 and 2012 to the Washington State Republican Party and the King County Republican Central Committee, totaling $2,785. Despite their exclusive support for Republicans, advocacy for right-wing policy positions associated with the GOP, and funding from national conservative foundations, both the Freedom Foundation and WPC claim to be nonpartisan.