Advance Arkansas Institute

Advance Arkansas Institute (AAI) is a state think tank member of the State Policy Network (SPN) that was founded in 2009. It was formerly known as the "Mid-American Policy Institute," according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). It is listed as hosting Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity "investigative journalists." 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 it's website, the Franklin Center claims that it "provides 10 percent of all daily reporting from state capitals nationwide."

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council
AAI has direct ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). In December 2011, the organization sent its executive director, Dan Greenberg, to present on "Preventing Settlement Abuse: The Work of CCAF and the Advance Arkansas Institute" to ALEC's Civil Justice Task Force. AAI is also connected to ALEC through SPN, which is a member of several ALEC task forces.

SPN's predecessor, the Madison Group, 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 the American Legislative Exchange Council (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) (see below for more).

Please see SPN Ties to ALEC for more

Funding
In 2011, the first year in which it filed a full IRS Form 990 (albeit a Form 990-EZ), AAI received $195,410 in revenue, had $117,685 in total expenses, and ended the year with $77,725 in net assets. As of December 2012, it does not disclose its donors. In 2009 and 2010, the organization, then known as the Mid-American Policy Institute (it filed a name change with its 2011 Form 990), filed a Form 990-N, meaning it claimed to have gross receipts of less than $25,000 in those years.

Staff

 * President, Dan Greenberg
 * Editor of The Arkansas Project, Nicholas Horton
 * Adjunct Analyst, Alex Cartwright
 * Development Associate, Kelly Shackelford
 * Director, Federalism Project, Roman Buhler

Board of Directors

 * Stuart Buck
 * Dan Greenberg
 * Betty Jane Strong

Board of Scholars

 * Professor Noel Campbell, University of Central Arkansas
 * Professor Jay Greene, University of Arkansas – Fayetteville
 * Professor Bradley Gitz, Lyon College
 * Professor David Mitchell, University of Central Arkansas
 * Professor Richard J. Peltz-Steele, University of Massachusetts School of Law
 * Professor Michael Podgursky, University of Missouri – Columbia
 * Professor Jene Porter, University of Saskatchewan (emeritus)
 * Professor Buddy Rogers (Adjunct), Northwest Arkansas Community College
 * Professor Robert E. Steinbuch, University of Arkansas – Little Rock, Bowen School of Law
 * Professor Julie Trivitt, Arkansas Tech University
 * Dean Cheri Yecke, Harding University

Core Financials
 2012 


 * Total Revenue: $189,287
 * Total Expenses: $164,007.35
 * Net Assets: $103,004.65

 2011  :


 * Total Revenue: $195,410
 * Total Expenses: $117,685
 * Net Assets: $77,725

Contact
Advance Arkansas Institute 55 Fontenay Circle Little Rock, Arkansas 72223 Phone: (501) 588-4245 E-mail: advancearkansas at gmail.com