cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/44902005
The right-wing State Policy Network (SPN) and its affiliates have an overall combined revenue of $270 million, according to an analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) of the latest publicly available IRS filings. This marks a 77% increase since CMD last reported on SPN’s core finances in 2022.
CMD analyzed the IRS filings of all 64 affiliates of SPN from 2023, with a few available from 2024. The network’s overall combined expenses for this period were $230 million, with net assets coming in at $255 million. These numbers do not include core financials from the Great Plains Public Policy Institute or the Roughrider Policy Center since they bring in less than $50,000 per year and therefore do not have to disclose them, according to IRS regulations.
SPN groups play an integral role in promoting passage of legislation in state houses across the country — by providing academic legitimacy when their members testify at hearings, producing “studies” or model legislation, and attracting media attention. That legislation is sometimes drafted as model bills by corporate lobbyists and lawmakers at SPN’s sister organization, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
SPN is holding its annual meeting this week in New Orleans, where school privatization, AI, deregulating nicotine, noncitizen voting, bitcoin, DOGE, and more are on the agenda.