California Public Policy Center

The California Public Policy Center is a right-wing pressure group based in California. Founded in June 2010, it is a state affiliate of the $83 million right-wing 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. See SPN Members for more.

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.

Board of Directors
As of September 2013:


 * Mark W. Bucher (founder, Education Alliance), President
 * Robert W. Loewen (Chairman, Lincoln Club of Orange County)
 * TJ Zane

Staff, "Contributors," and "Advisors"
As of September 2013:


 * Ed Ring (Editor, UnionWatch.org; former employee of Stop Special Interest Money Now, the California PAC that placed Prop. 32 on the November 2012 state ballot), Executive Director
 * Jack Dean
 * John Dickerson
 * William Fletcher (former Senior Vice President, Rockwell International; formerly employed by Bechtel Corporation, McKinsey and Company, Inc., and Combustion Engineering’s Nuclear Power Division; formerly an officer and engineer in the U.S. Navy’s nuclear program)
 * Marcia Fritz (President and founding board member, California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility)
 * Gloria Romero (former California State Senator; State Director, Democrats for Education Reform)
 * Larry Sand (president, California Teachers Empowerment Network)

Core Financials
 2012 
 * Total Revenue: $36,797
 * Total Expenses: $27,241
 * Net Assets: $30,821

 2011 
 * Total Revenue: $160,063
 * Total Expenses: $136,884
 * Net Assets: $-30,821

 2010 
 * Total Revenue: $105,000
 * Total Expenses: $52,914
 * Net Assets: $52,086

Contact Details
18002 Irvine Blvd.,Suite 108 Tustin, CA 92780 Phone: (714) 573-2201 Web: http://californiapublicpolicycenter.org/