Center of the American Experiment

The Center of the American Experiment (CAE) is a right-wing pressure group based in Minnesota. It is a member of the State Policy Network (SPN), a web of state pressure groups that denote themselves as "think tanks" and drive a right-wing agenda in statehouses nationwide.

Attempting to Influence Legislation in Minnesota
Minnesota Senator and candidate for Governor Dave Thompson proposed a constitutional amendment (SF 1705) to make Minnesota a "Right to Work" state. The amendment was strikingly similar to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) bill the "Right to Work Act," as a November 2013 report by Alliance for a Better Minnesota points out. The report continues, "Piggybacking on Thompson's ALEC-based efforts to pass Right to Work in Minnesota, CAE released a report in support of the measure. Not surprisingly, the SPN-written report was shown to be both duplicative to reports from other states and inaccurate."

CAE also released a report in support of a 2012 constitutional amendment that would have codified language very similar to ALEC's "Voter ID Act."

Political Contributions of CAE Staff and Directors
According to the Alliance for a Better Minnesota report, "CAE staff and directors contributed at least $289,430 to federal candidates and committees between 1998 and 2012. Nearly all contributions were made to conservative or Republican organizations and candidates. . . . CAE staff and directors contributed at least $656,718 to candidates and committees at the state level from 1998–2012. As with the federal contributions, nearly all contributions were made to "conservative" organizations and candidates."

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council
SPN is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Additionally, CAE board member, John Gibbs, represents Comcast Corporation on the ALEC Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force.

Please see SPN Ties to ALEC for more.

Board of Directors

 * Keith Kostuch, Chairman and CEO
 * Mitchell B. Pearlstein, Ph.D., President
 * Kim Crockett, J.D., Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President & General Counsel
 * Thomas O. Kelly, III, Vice Chairman (Attorney, Dorsey & Whitney)
 * Mark S. Larson, Secretary (Attorney, Messerli & Kramer)
 * Scott Rile, Treasurer (Principal, Bernstein Global Wealth Management)
 * Edward C. Anderson (CEO, National Arbitration Forum)
 * Mitchell Davis (Business Leader, Davisco Foods)
 * Ronald E. Eibensteiner (Venture Capitalist, Wyncrest Capital, Inc.)
 * Carolyn Erickson (Partner, CSM Investments)
 * John F. Gibbs (Vice President, Government Affairs, Comcast Corporation)
 * Harrison T. Grodnick (Owner & Manager, Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group)
 * John W. Hedberg (Retired Business Executive, Hedberg Family Foundation)
 * Lowell W. Hellervik (CEO, Personnel Decisions International)
 * Robin Norgaard Kelleher (Attorney, Seaton, Beck & Revnew)
 * Jack Lanners (CEO & Business Leader, F.T.L. Corporation)
 * Rick Leggott (Founder & CEO, Arbor Capital Management)
 * Eduard Michel, M.D. (Co-Founder, Virtual Radiologic Corp.)
 * Richard G. Morgan (Attorney, Bowman & Brooke)
 * Kenneth W. Morris (VP, Author & Speaker, The Apercu Group)
 * Rick Penn (Senior VP and President of the Disk Drive Components Division, Hutchinson Technology)
 * Thomas J. Rosen (CEO & Business Leader, Rosen's Diversified Inc.)
 * Ronald J. Schutz (Attorney, Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi)
 * Charles E. Spevacek (Attorney, Meagher & Geer, P.L.L.P.)
 * Bruce Taher (President & CEO, Taher Inc)

Core Financials
 2010  :  2009  :
 * Total Revenue: $711,473
 * Total Expenses: $651,873
 * Net Assets: -$22,834
 * Total Revenue: $744,556
 * Total Expenses: $658,994
 * Net Assets: -$82,434

Contact Information
12 South 6th Street, Suite 1024 Minneapolis, MN 55402 612-338-3605 (Phone) 612-338-3621 (Fax) http://www.amexp.org