Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity

Learn more about how the State Policy Network aids ALEC and spins disinformation in the states.

Follow the money in the Koch wiki.

The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP) is a right-wing 501(c)3 think tank based out of Austin, Texas and an associate member of the State Policy Network (SPN).

FREOPP was founded in 2016, its mission is to consider "the impact of public policies and proposed reforms on those with incomes or wealth below the U.S. median." The organization portrays itself as non-partisan, "our aim is to become a credible bridge between those on the left and the right who genuinely want to expand opportunity to those who least have it," yet its staff and Board is comprised of conservative and Republican party insiders.

It appears that the organization's policy focus is healthcare and the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

Koch Wiki

The Koch brothers -- David and Charles -- are the right-wing billionaire co-owners of Koch Industries. As two of the richest people in the world, they are key funders of the right-wing infrastructure, including the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the State Policy Network (SPN). In SourceWatch, key articles on the Kochs include: Koch Brothers, Koch Industries, Americans for Prosperity, American Encore, and Freedom Partners.

State Policy Network

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 Koch Brothers

Daniel Garza sits on FREOPP's Board of Directors and is listed by the organization as a writer. Garza is the founder and Executive Director of the Libre Initiative, a right-wing astroturf nonprofit bankrolled by the Koch brothers to target Hispanic voters.

FREOPP also lists Emily Etkins, a research fellow and the director of polling at the Cato Institute, on its Board of Directors. The Cato Institute is a right-wing think tank founded Charles Koch. Read more about Cato here.

Core Financials

As of March 9, 2017 there are no IRS forms available for the Foundation on Equal Opportunity.

Personnel

Board of Advisors

The "FREOPP Brain Trust":

• Ames Brown, Chair, Executive Vice-President and Co-Founder, former contestant on the Bachorlette
• Avik Roy, Co-Founder and Editor
• Daniel Garza, President of the Libre Initiative
• Juleanna Glover, Corporate Consultant, former staffer to George W. Bush, former lobbyist
• Evan Baehr, Board member of the Adam Smith Society at the Manhattan Institute
• Kristen Soltis Anderson, Republican pollster
• Lanhee Chen, Hoover Institution, former campaign advisor to Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney
• Emily Ekins, Writer, Research Fellow and Director of Polling at the Cato Insitute

Other Staff

• Scott Winship, Visiting Fellow
• Reihan Salam, Writer, Executive Editor of National Review
• Matt Mackowiak, Writer, Founder of Potomac Strategy Group

Contact

Employer Identification Number (EIN): 81-2699310

Foundation for Research of Equal Opportunity
3267 Bee Caves Rd, Suite 107-375
Austin, Texas 78746
Email: info@freopp.org
Twitter: @FREOPP
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freopp