Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions

The Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions (BIPPS) is a right-wing pressure group that promotes itself as "an independent research and educational institution offering free-market solutions to Kentucky's most pressing problems." The institute was created and initially funded by Chris Derry, a businessman from Bowling Green, Kentucky. BIPPS is a member of the State Policy Network (SPN).

SPN is a web of right-wing “think tanks” and tax-exempt organizations in 50 states, Washington, D.C., Canada, and the United Kingdom. As of October 2019, SPN's membership totals 162. Today's SPN is the tip of the spear of far-right, nationally funded policy agenda in the states that undergirds extremists in the Republican Party. SPN Executive Director Tracie Sharp told the Wall Street Journal in 2017 that the revenue of the combined groups was some $80 million, but a 2019 analysis of SPN's main members IRS filings by the Center for Media and Democracy shows that the combined revenue is over $120 million. Although SPN's member organizations claim to be nonpartisan and independent, the Center for Media and Democracy's in-depth investigation, "EXPOSED: The State Policy Network -- The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government," reveals that SPN and its member think tanks are major drivers of the right-wing, 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.

In response to CMD's report, SPN Executive Director Tracie Sharp told national and statehouse reporters that SPN affiliates are "fiercely independent." Later the same week, however, The New Yorker's Jane Mayer caught Sharp in a contradiction. In her article, "Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?," the Pulitzer-nominated reporter revealed that, in a recent meeting behind closed doors with the heads of SPN affiliates around the country, Sharp "compared the organization’s model to that of the giant global chain IKEA." She reportedly said that SPN "would provide 'the raw materials,' along with the 'services' needed to assemble the products. Rather than acting like passive customers who buy finished products, she wanted each state group to show the enterprise and creativity needed to assemble the parts in their home states. 'Pick what you need,' she said, 'and customize it for what works best for you.'" Not only that, but Sharp "also acknowledged privately to the members that the organization's often anonymous donors frequently shape the agenda. 'The grants are driven by donor intent,' she told the gathered think-tank heads. She added that, often, 'the donors have a very specific idea of what they want to happen.'"

A set of coordinated fundraising proposals obtained and released by The Guardian in early December 2013 confirm many of these SPN members' intent to change state laws and policies, referring to "advancing model legislation" and "candidate briefings." These activities "arguably cross the line into lobbying," The Guardian notes.

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

Beginning in 2014, BIPPS was part of a coalition pushing for local "right to work" legislation that included ALEC and its local offshoot, ACCE. See Involvement in Push for Local "Right to Work" in Kentucky below for more.

BIPPS has also sponsored model legislation that was supported by the ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force. According to a BIPPS press release from December 5, 2012, the model legislation, the so-called "Intrastate Coal and Use Act," continued "to the ALEC board for final approval, following which it will officially be made available to states for adaptation to their individual needs."

The Madison Group, the predecessor of SPN -- of which BIPPS is a member -- was "launched by the American Legislative Exchange Council or ALEC . . . and housed in the Chicago-based Heartland Institute," according to a 1991 report by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) found in the University of California-San Francisco's Legacy Tobacco Documents.

The case is strengthened by an October 1987 ALEC directory also available via the Tobacco Documents that says, "The Madison Group is chaired by Mrs. Constance Heckman [now Constance Campanella, founder of the lobbying firm Stateside Associates], Executive Director of ALEC . . ." A speakers list also available in the Tobacco Documents says in Constance Campanella's biography, "She was a co-founder and first President of The Madison Group, the first network of free-market state think tanks."

SPN has been a member of ALEC for many years. In the mid-2000s, SPN secured funding for more of its member think tanks to join ALEC in order to help develop model legislation. By 2009, 22 SPN member think tanks were active ALEC members and participants in ALEC task forces, according to an SPN newsletter, and SPN was being rewarded for its services by ALEC. As of 2013, at least 35 SPN member think tanks have demonstrable ties to ALEC in addition to SPN's own ties, and all of SPN's member think tanks push ALEC's agenda in their respective states, according to a review by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD).

Please see SPN Ties to ALEC for more.

About ALEC

ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.

Ties to the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity

The Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions has hosted writers from the ALEC-connected Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, which screens potential reporters on their “free market” views as part of the job application process. The Franklin Center funds reporters in over 40 states. Despite their non-partisan description, many of the websites funded by the Franklin Center have received criticism for their conservative bias. On its website, the Franklin Center claims it "provides 10 percent of all daily reporting from state capitals nationwide."

Franklin Center Funding

Franklin Center Director of Communications Michael Moroney told the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) in 2013 that the source of the Franklin Center's funding "is 100 percent anonymous." But 95 percent of its 2011 funding came from DonorsTrust, a spin-off of the Philanthropy Roundtable that functions as a large "donor-advised fund," cloaking the identity of donors to right-wing causes across the country (CPI did a review of Franklin's Internal Revenue Service records). Mother Jones called DonorsTrust "the dark-money ATM of the conservative movement" in a February 2013 article. Franklin received DonorTrust's second-largest donation in 2011.

The Franklin Center also receives funding from the Wisconsin-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, a conservative grant-making organization.

The Franklin Center was launched by the Chicago-based Sam Adams Alliance (SAM), a 501(c)(3) devoted to pushing free-market ideals. SAM gets funding from the State Policy Network, which is partially funded by The Claude R. Lambe Foundation. Charles Koch, one of the billionaire brothers who co-own Koch Industries, sits on the board of this foundation. SAM also receives funding from the Rodney Fund.

Research and Agenda

BIPPS describes its own agenda as "promoting free‐market capitalism, smaller government, and the defense of personal liberties." Its positions follow the right-wing agenda of the State Policy Network (SPN), including privatization of education, restricting workers' rights, and blocking healthcare reform.

In many cases, the credentials or experiential background of BIPPS content contributors is unknown; and some policy documents have been created by individuals with no direct experience in the field they are critiquing. The site promotes pro-corporate, anti-labor positions. BIPPS claims to be non-partisan, but the content contributors overwhelming express Republican or Libertarian political interests and issues.

The organization's website averages 1530 unique visitors monthly and focuses predominantly on a Kentucky-based audience as of November 2007. The Institute acknowledged the Mackinac Center for Public Policy's assistance with the development of its website in earlier versions.

The Courier Journal in Louisville -- the largest print media outlet in Kentucky -- has described BIPPS as generally having a "libertarian anti-government negativism" and downgrades the reliability of its analysis in comparison to the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center."

Founder Says BIPPS Is "Like a Franchise" of Other State Groups

According to The New York Times, BIPPS was founded by Christopher Derry, "a sales executive with no public-policy background" who attended a "conservative think tank school" run by Lawrence Reed at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in 2003. The Times reports that after the Mackinac program, Derry returned to Kentucky "with access to everything from off-the-shelf speeches and papers to management software.... 'This is like a franchise,' Mr. Derry said. 'I saw that I could recreate what the other state groups are doing.'"

Involvement in Push for Local "Right to Work" in Kentucky

The Bluegrass Institute is part of a coalition that has been pushing for local "right to work" ordinances in Kentucky starting in 2014. The New York Times reported in December 2014 that a "carefully devised plan" was being rolled out in Kentucky, with several counties passing right to work ordinances within a matter of weeks. In addition to the Bluegrass Institute, the coalition included ALEC, the Heritage Foundation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and a new group, Protect My Check, which promised "to pay for the legal battles of any local government that tries [to pass right-to-work laws]."

ALEC has promoted a "Right to Work Act" since at least 1995, and ALEC's local offshoot, the American City County Exchange, promotes a local version of right-to-work.

The Bluegrass Institute has a role in supporting the right-to-work campaign in media. For example, NPR talked to Bluegrass Institute president Jim Waters, reporting that Waters "says the state is losing business" due to not having "right-to-work." He said, "We're not saying that a right-to-work law is going to fix all of our economic problems in Kentucky, but what we're saying is that it's an important tool in the state's economic toolbox."

For more information, see Right to Work and American City County Exchange.

Support for School Privatization Agenda

BIPPS supports school voucher programs, charter schools, and other so-called "school choice" initiatives. In 2005, BIPPS started an organization called the Kentucky Alliance for School Choice, which ran a petition drive "aimed at getting legislation passed that would allow for a less strict school districting system," according to the Bowling Green Daily News.

Funding

BIPPS is a 501(c)3 non-profit group. It employed four people in 2013. It reported receiving $31,000 in government grant funding and $241,382 in revenues from other contributions in 2013.

BIPPS stated on its website in 2007, however, that it is "supported through the generous contributions of our members. No government funds are accepted and no contract research is performed. In October 2007, The Courier Journal noted that "the group's spokesman wouldn't tell our reporters the sources of its income or size of its dues-paying membership."

Based on data from other organizations' tax filings, BIPPS funders include the following:

• Donors Capital Fund: $715,000 (2005-2013)
• Jaquelin Hume Foundation: $220,000 (2005-2012)
• Dunn's Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking: $162,000 (2007-2013)
• Roe Foundation: $140,000 (2004-2012)
• Atlas Economic Research Foundation: $105,000 (2008). BIPPS was the recipient of a $100,000 Fisher Venture Grant from Atlas.
• Ruth & Lovett Peters Foundation: $50,000 (2004)
• JM Foundation: $35,000 (2004-2006)
• State Policy Network: $30,000 (2013)
• Castle Rock Foundation: $15,000 (2008)
• Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation: $5,200 (2011)
• Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice: $1,000 (2007)

In its 2006 IRS return, BIPPS president, Chris Derry, was listed as working 50 hours a week and was paid $59,999. The report indicated that Derry's time was split 60/40 percent between fundraising and "management and general." The return identified $132,872 being spent on "salaries and wages of employees" in addition to that of Derry's.

In its 2006 annual report, the libertarian Cato Institute states that it contributed $50,000 to the Bluegrass Institute.

Core Financials

2017

• Total Revenue: $280,362
• Total Expenses: $294,319
• Net Assets: $-13,957

2016

• Total Revenue: $254,779
• Total Expenses: $225,163
• Net Assets: $56,884

2015

• Total Revenue: $228,367
• Total Expenses: $216,229
• Net Assets: $27,268

2014

• Total Revenue: $303,985
• Total Expenses: $264,744
• Net Assets: $31,846

2013

• Total Revenue: $272,382
• Total Expenses: $280,587
• Net Assets: $-18,746

2012

• Total Revenue: $316,105
• Total Expenses: $392,291
• Net Assets: $-10,541

2011

• Total Revenue: $329,547
• Total Expenses: $466,950
• Net Assets: $77,751

2010

• Total Revenue: $400,403
• Total Expenses: $374,062
• Net Assets: $212,718

2009

• Total Revenue: $430,686
• Total Expenses: $422,875
• Net Assets: $196,526

BIPPS's first IRS return for 2003 listed Derry as the unpaid president and CEO and Morris L. Grubbs and Tommy Adams as directors.

Personnel

Board Members

As of March 2019:

• Tom Dupree, Jr., Owner, Dupree Financial Group. Dupree also hosts a radio show on Lexington’s NewsRadio 630 WLAP-AM
• Steven J. Megerle, Attorney
• Aaron Ammerman, Financial Advisor, UBS Financial Services Inc.

Former board:

• Tim Yessin, Board Chair, V.P. and Wealth Management Adviser for Fifth Third Private Bank

Staff

As of March 2019:

• Jim Waters, President and CEO. Waters was appointed interim president in 2012 after eight years working in a communications role.
• Sarah May Durand, Government Affairs Director and Digital Marketing Strategist
• Dick Innes, Education Analyst

Policy Scholars

As of March 2019:

• John Garen, Chair. Gatton Endowed Professor of Economics, University of Kentucky. Gatten also has an affiliation with the Mercatus Center.
• Stephan Gohmann, BB&T Professor of Free Enterprise at the University of Louisville, a chair endowed by the bank BB&T. As of 2015 he leads a "free enterprise center" funded in part by the Charles G. Koch Foundation.
• Gary Houchens, Professor, Department of Educational Administration, Leadership and Research, Western Kentucky University.
• Eric D. Schansberg, Professor of Economics, Indiana University Southeast. Schansberg has also been affiliated with the Acton Institute and the Independent Institute.
• Brian Strow, Policy Scholar. BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism, Western Kentucky University, a chair endowed by the bank BB&T. Strow also heads the BB&T Center for the Study of Capitalism at WKU.

=Former Staff

• Kelly Smith, Vice President of Strategic Partners. According to her official bio, Smith completed a "Think Tank MBA" program at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation (another SPN member group) in 2011.
• Folu Elegbede, Director of Digital Marketing
• Caleb O. Brown

Contact Information

Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions
P.O. Box 11706
Lexington, KY 40577
Website: http://www.bipps.org
Phone: (270) 782-2140
Fax: (305) 675-0220
Email: jwaters@freedomkentucky.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bipps
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/BluegrassInstitute/

Articles and Resources

IRS Form 990 Filings

2017

2016

2015

2014

Related SourceWatch Articles

• State Policy Network:
  • SPN Portal
  • SPN Political Activity
  • SPN Funding
    • SPN 2011 Funding
    • SPN 2010 Funding
    • SPN 2009 Funding
  • SPN Agenda
  • SPN Founders, History, and Staff
  • SPN Members
  • SPN Ties to ALEC
  • Thomas A. Roe
  • Tracie Sharp
  • Byron S. Lamm
  • Roe Foundation
• American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)
  • ALEC Non-Profits
• DonorsTrust
• Donors Capital Fund
• Koch Family Foundations
• Koch Industries
• Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity
• Heritage Foundation
• Think tanks
• Whitney Ball
• Adam Meyerson
• Bridgett Wagner

Related PRWatch Articles

• Brendan Fischer, Why Are the Franklin Center's "Wisconsin Reporter" and "Watchdog.org" Attacking the John Doe?, PRWatch.org, December 19, 2013.
• Rebekah Wilce, The State Policy Network's Cozy Relationship with Big Tobacco, PRWatch.org, December 16, 2013.
• Rebekah Wilce, Did ALEC Found SPN? 1991 Report Suggests So, Exposes SPN Agenda, PRWatch.org, December 12, 2013.
• Rebekah Wilce, Guardian Documents Expose State Policy Network Groups' Intent to Lobby, PRWatch.org, December 5, 2013.
• Rebekah Wilce, State Policy Network: The Stealth Network Dramatically Influencing State Law, PRWatch.org, December 5, 2013.
• Rebekah Wilce, Tracie Sharp: Bursar of Mystery Money and "IKEA Model" Materials to Stink Tanks, PRWatch.org, November 19, 2013.
• Center for Media and Democracy, Reports Expose Extreme Pressure Groups Masquerading as Think Tanks, press release, November 13, 2013.
• Rebekah Wilce, A Reporters’ Guide to the "State Policy Network": the Right-Wing Think Tanks Spinning Disinformation and Pushing the ALEC Agenda in the States, PRWatch.org, April 4, 2013.
• Sara Jerving, ALEC and Heartland Aim to Crush Renewable Energy Standards in the States, PRWatch.org, November 27, 2012.
• Connor Gibson, Meet the Network Hiding the Koch Money: "Donors Trust" and "Donors Capital Fund", PRWatch.org, October 29, 2012.
• Brendan Fischer, Koch-Funded Mackinac Center Brings Wisconsin Act 10 Provisions to ALEC, PRWatch.org, May 2, 2012.
• Sara Jerving, Franklin Center: Right-Wing Funds State News Source, PRWatch.org, October 31, 2011.

External Links

• Wall Street Journal, The Spoils of the Republican State Conquest, December 9, 2016, archived by CMD here.
• DeSmog Blog, Stink Tanks: Historical Records Reveal State Policy Network Was Created by ALEC, December 9, 2013.
• The Guardian, State conservative groups plan US-wide assault on education, health and tax, December 5, 2013.
• Portland Press Herald, "Washington County residents have mixed reactions to plan to eliminate taxes," December 5, 2013.
• The Texas Observer, "The Money Behind the Fight to Undermine Medicaid," December 5, 2013.
• Media Matters, North Carolina Newspapers Largely Ignore Conservative Funding Of Sham Think Tanks, December 3, 2013.
• Shepherd Express, Masters of Manipulation: Right-wing Billionaires, Corporations and the Bradley Foundation Pay for Junk Studies that Prop up Their Agenda, November 27, 2013.
• "Moyers & Company," How a Shadowy Network of Corporate Front Groups Distorts the Marketplace of Ideas, November 19, 2013.
• MSNBC "Rachel Maddow Show," November 18, 2013.
• Free Speech TV "Ring of Fire," Facebook, Microsoft, AT&T and Others Supporting Right Wing Propaganda Machine, November 18, 2013.
• Topeka Capital-Journal, Trabert dismisses report tying KPI to Koch agenda, November 16, 2013.
• The New Yorker (Jane Mayer), Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?, November 15, 2013.
• Salon, Ted Cruz and Koch brothers embroiled in shadowy Tea Party scheme, November 15, 2013.
• St. Louis Business Journal, Beyond Sinquefield: Who else is funding the Show-Me Institute?, November 15, 2013.
• The Guardian, Facebook and Microsoft help fund rightwing lobby network, report finds, November 14, 2013.
• Huffington Post, Meet The Little-Known Network Pushing Ideas For Kochs, ALEC, November 14, 2013.
• CBS St. Louis, Show-Me Institute’s Ties Questioned in New Report, November 14, 2013.
• Talking Points Memo, Florida Conservative Group Helping Muck Up Obamacare In Alaska, November 14, 2013.
• Mint Press News, Reports Reveal SPN’s Secret Corporate Agenda Through Use ‘Expert’ Testimony, November 14, 2013.
• Media Matters, Shadowy Right-Wing Group Generates Media Coverage For Conservative Policy From Coast To Coast, November 14, 2013.
• The Institute for Southern Studies, Are conservative think tanks breaking lobbying laws?, November 14, 2013.
• Nonprofit Quarterly, Corporate Money in Network of Right-Wing State Policy Think Tanks, November 14, 2013.
• The Progressive, Right-Wing Think Tanks Push Privatization in the States, November 13, 2013.
• Politico, Report: Think tanks tied to Kochs, November 13, 2013.
• Lawrence Journal-World, Reports released by progressive groups are critical of Kansas Policy Institute, November 13, 2013.
• Maine Insights, Report: Maine Heritage Policy Center’s funding connection to Koch Brothers, November 13, 2013.
• The Florida Current, Liberal groups bemoan lobbying by conservative think tanks, November 13, 2013.
• The Oregonian, Cascade Policy Institute benefits from secretive donor group but says it operates independently, November 13, 2013.
• Center for Media and Democracy, EXPOSED: The State Policy Network, The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government, organizational report, November 13, 2013.
• Arizona Working Families and CMD, A Reporter’s Guide to the Goldwater Institute: What Citizens, Policymakers, and Reporters Should Know, organizational report, updated November 13, 2013.
• Progress Florida and CMD, Lawmaking Under the Influence of Very Special Interests: Understand the role of Florida ‘think tanks’ in driving a Koch-fueled, ALEC-allied corporate agenda, organizational report, November 13, 2013.
• Maine's Majority Education Fund, Fooling Maine: How national conservative groups infiltrated Maine politics by founding and funding the Maine Heritage Policy Center, organizational report, November 13, 2013.
• Progress Michigan, Who's Running Michigan? The Far-Right Influence of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, organizational report, November 13, 2013.
• Alliance for a Better Minnesota, Who's in Charge: How Nationalized Corporate-Run Think Tanks Influence Minnesota Politics, organizational report, November 13, 2013.
• Progress Missouri, What Missourians Need to Know About the Show-Me Institute, organizational report, updated November 13, 2013.
• Granite State Progress, Bad Bartlett: The Josiah Bartlett Center and NH Watchdog Answer the Call of the Koch Brothers, organizational report, November 13, 2013.
• ProgressOhio, Smoke Screen: The Buckeye Institute, organizational report, November 13, 2013.
• Keystone Progress, Think tanks or corporate lobbyist propaganda mills?, organizational report, November 13, 2013.
• Progress Texas, TPPF + ALEC, organizational report, November 13, 2013.
• One Wisconsin Now, S is for Shill: Inside the Bradley Foundation's Attack on Public Education, organizational report, November 13, 2013.
• Muncie Voice, Pence and Right-Wing Are Taking Over Public Education, November 13, 2013.
• The Spokesman-Review, Shawn Vestal: Idaho Freedom Foundation pushes limits of word ‘charity’, November 2, 2013.
• AZ Central, When this ‘watchdog’ pitches, taxpayers strike out, October 12, 2013.
• IndyStar, Daniels says speech to partisan group was a mistake, October 10, 2013.
• Muncie Voice, Indiana Policy Review: Not an Independent News Source, October 2, 2013.
• The Spokesman-Review, Idaho Freedom Foundation's charitable status scrutinized, September 15, 2013.
• CounterSpin, Lee Fang on 'The Right Leans In', April 5, 2013.
• FireDogLake, State Policy Network, an umbrella coordinating ALEC, Heritage, Heartland and others, April 4, 2013.
• Thom Hartmann with Lee Fang on MSNBC, The conservative State Policy Network is sneaking into your state & will change America, March 29, 2013.
• Current TV "War Room", Lee Fang discussing the State Policy Network, March 28, 2013.
• The Nation, The Right Leans In, March 26, 2013.
• Democracy Now, Donors Trust: Little-Known Group Helps Wealthy Backers Fund Right-Wing Agenda in Secret, February 19, 2013.
• Paul Abowd, Center for Public Integrity, Donors use charity to push free-market policies in states, Consider the Source, February 14, 2013.
• John R. Mashey, Fake science, fakexperts, funny finances, free of tax 2, DeSmog Blog report, updated October 23, 2012, p. 74.
• Urban Milwaukee, Stealth Conservatives, October 11, 2012.
• Rome News-Tribune, ANALYSIS: Georgia leaders depend on the same well for ideas, October 2012.
• Andy Kroll, The Right-Wing Network Behind the War on Unions, Mother Jones, April 25, 2011.
• Guidestar, State Policy Network, IRS filings and other organizational information about SPN.
• Center for Policy Alternatives, ALEC and the Extreme Right-Wing Agenda, organizational brochure about ALEC and SPN.
• John J. Miller, Fifty Flowers Bloom: Conservative think tanks — mini–Heritage Foundations — at the state level, National Review, November 19, 2007.
• Bridge Project, State Policy Network, online resource listing grants to SPN and SPN's connections to other groups.
• People for the American Way, State Policy Network, RightWingWatch.org, organizational resource.
• Greenpeace, Koch Industries Climate Denial Front Group: State Policy Network (SPN), organizational resource.