Research Cited

Durham Activist Asks J. Cole to Cancel Dreamville Over the GOP’s ‘Anti-Woke’ Education Bill

Source: Indy Week | Published: 3/29/2023

ALEC is a corporate-funded entity whose members include “global corporations and state politicians [who] vote behind closed doors to try to rewrite state laws that govern your rights,” according to the progressive nonprofit watchdog the Center for Media and Democracy. “These so-called ‘model bills’ reach into almost every area of American life and often directly […]

Koch-Funded Astroturf Campaign For Vouchers Hits Texas Neighborhoods

Education, Koch

Source: Reform Austin | Published: 3/29/2023

The group behind the efforts is Young Americans for Liberty. In 2021, Young Americans for Liberty received a $662,475 grant from DonorsTrust as part of their widespread youth outreach project that includes Turning Point USA, and was the third largest recipient of grants. According to the Center for Media and Democracy, DonorsTrust is a favorite dark money […]

Patronis targets BlackRock as GOP leaders work in concert to discredit ESG

Climate, Environment, SFOF

Source: Orlando Sentinel | Published: 3/24/2023

Fidelity is a Silver sponsor, which means it paid $25,000 for “one 30-45 minute virtual private meeting, potential to contribute a speaker to panel discussion, and sponsorship of ‘e-blasts,” according to the Center for Media and Democracy. As a Bronze sponsor, Wells Fargo paid $15,000 for “invitations to SFOF special events, distribution in conference swag […]

What Fossil Fuel Executives Really Think About ESG

ALEC, Climate, Economy, Environment, SFOF

Source: The New Republic | Published: 3/8/2023

Not all of Devon’s top brass have been so reticent to declare their side in the ESG war. Devon CEO Rick Muncrief sits on the board of directors of the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance. Earlier this year, DEPA urged board members of the American Legislative Exchange Council to adopt the “Eliminate Economic Boycotts Act” as […]

How Trump allies and wealthy donors helped to fuel the GOP fight against ESG investing platforms

Democracy, Economy, Environment, RAGA, SFOF

Source: CNBC | Published: 3/1/2023

One panel hosted by Republican Utah Treasurer Marlo Oaks posed a question increasingly uttered by congressional Republicans and and prospective GOP presidential candidates in recent months, according to an agenda obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy and later reviewed by CNBC.

The Christian Nationalist Machine Turning Hate Into Law

ALEC, Democracy, Extremism

Source: Rolling Stone | Published: 2/23/2023

With a national agenda and a state-by-state focus, NACL is emulating the American Legislative Exchange Council. An infamous corporate front group, ALEC pioneered the strategy of pushing for national political goals by advancing carbon-copy bills through state legislatures. But where ALEC serves far-right billionaire masters and polluting special interests, NACL sees itself as serving the […]

Ohio AG must turn over records, testify about Republican AG association

Democracy, RAGA

Source: Legal Newsline | Published: 2/21/2023

The center sued in December 2020, arguing Yost had violated his duty of disclosure. In its lawsuit, CMD described RAGA and RLDF as “extremely influential pressure groups whose shared mission is to advance the interests of their corporate patrons.” RAGA’s funders include a political organization backed by conservative billionaire Leonard Leo, according to CMD and […]

The Right Has It In for Woke Investors. The Only Problem? They Don’t Exist.

ALEC, Climate, Democracy, Economy, Environment, RAGA, SFOF

Source: The New Republic | Published: 2/15/2023

To coordinate messaging among treasurers and comptrollers, SFOF has contracted with CRC Advisors, a for-profit PR shop part-owned by right-wing legal crusader and Federalist Society guru Leonard Leo. Legal entrepreneurs and ESG opponents have found common cause elsewhere, too. The Center for Media and Democracy—a watchdog group that has tracked state-level anti-ESG efforts since their […]

Election bill that would make it easier to vote moving through Legislature

Campaign Finance, Democracy, Elections, SPN

Source: Minnesota Reformer | Published: 2/14/2023

According to a Center for Media and Democracy investigation in 2018, People United for Privacy is a “front group” for the State Policy Network, a web of right-wing think tanks, advocacy groups, and other nonprofits that “provide academic legitimacy for policy ideas through right-wing reports, testimony at legislative hearings, and the media.”

Democrats Hold Trifecta Power in Over a Dozen States. Will They Actually Use It?

ALEC, Democracy, Economy

Source: In These Times | Published: 2/1/2023

ALEC has existed since the 1970s but rose to prominence in the Obama era for drafting model bills that were increasingly being introduced — sometimes verbatim — in Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country. The organization’s imprint has been clear: In 2015, the progressive Center for Media and Democracy revealed that Wisconsin’s ”right-to-work” bill was almost a word-for-word copy […]