7/27/2019 OK - Who Is Behind The OKLAHOMA COUNCIL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

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The State Policy Network (SPN) is an umbrella group of right-wing think tanks across the country. The Oklahoma Councilof Public Affairs (OCPA) is the State Policy Networks cookie-cutter think tank for Oklahoma. While OCPA claims to be

focused on issues important to Oklahomans, they actually push an agenda dictated by its national right-wing funders andpartners.

The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs is a longtimesupporter and member of the controversial American

Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). At ALEC,corporate lobbyists and state lawmakers go behindclosed doors to create laws, with no input from thepublic, that end up helping the corporations bottomline. OCPA is a member of ALECs Education TaskForce, which pushes for the privatization of public

schools, public funding of private schools, and lawsthat would destroy the collective bargaining rights of

public school teachers.

While the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs donors are secredue to their status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the identities of

OCPAsfew known donorsshine a light on the real mission ofthe organization. OCPA has received over $2.3 million since1999 from theSamuel Roberts Noble Foundation,which has

interests in the big oil industry. OCPA has also receivedsignificant funding from theRoe Foundation,a right-wing

foundation that funds many other SPN think tanks and otherright-wing organizations such as the Heritage Foundation, ALECthe Cato Institute, and the Heartland Institute. Finally, OCPA hareceived $730,617 from the Koch-funded Donors Capital FundThis secretive group has been called the dark money ATM of

the conservative movementbyMother Jones.Included inDonors contributions to OCPA was a 2011 grant of $25,000 to

participate in ALEC.

OCPAs 2011reporton taxes was criticized by three academicsin the state for using faulty research methods.Jonathan Willne

of Oklahoma City University,Ken Olsonof Oklahoma StateUniversity, andCynthia Rogersof the University of Oklahoma acriticized the report for lacking credible evidence and not usingprofessional standards in normal economic studies, with Olson

saying OCPAs study was intentionally designed to give the

results OCPA wanted.

Sarah Palinwas the

keynote speaker at

OCPAs 2010

Liberty Gala

Paul Ryan spoke at

OCPAs 2010

Citizenship Dinner

Jeb Bushwas the

featured speaker

at the 2011 OCPA

Citizenship Awards

Dinner

As seen onprimary

documentsfrom ALECs

2013convention in

Chicago,OCPA was a

Trustee levelsponsor ofthe

conference,which meant

a$5,000contribution

Block access to affordable healthcare for Oklahomanfamilies

Restrict workers rights Destroy public pensions

Defund and privatizing Oklahomas public schools Protect corporations from liability when their products

harm or kill a consumer

Not surpris in gly, this also happens to b e the

agenda of ALEC and other SPN think tanks.

Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs,accessed 8/26/2013

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