California Policy Center

The California Public Policy Center (formerly the California Public Policy Center) is a right-wing pressure group based in California. According to the organization's website, the California Policy Center is an "educational non-profit working for the prosperity of all Californians by eliminating public-sector barriers to freedom." CPC’s website describes an organizational goal to diminish “the entrenched power of the state’s government unions and the politicians whose campaigns they bankroll,” which CPC views as the primary barrier to “reform” in California. According to the organization's LinkedIn, the CPC was founded to secure a more prosperous future for all Californians.

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.

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.

News and Controversies

Involvement in Anti-LGBT Administration

The CPC is listed among many others as an institution that holds "core beliefs that run counter to LGBTQ+ rights" and have “invested time and resources into training conservative Californians to run for school board seats and push to eliminate LGBTQ+ education."

The CPC stated that California parents' main concerns are school policies that allegedly encourage children to change their gender while keeping their new identity secret from their parents. As stated in Education Code 51932(b) and by the California Department of Education, parents have the option to opt out of lessons about sexual health and HIV prevention, but not instruction that references gender, gender identity or sexual orientation.

The CPC expressed bias in support of Assembly Bill 1314, a bill put forth by California Republican Assemblymember Bill Essayli that would require counselors to notify parents if their child assumed a different gender identity at school than the one they were assigned at birth. Experts have warned that legislation aimed to allow "outing" of transgender children could pose serious effects on the well-being of the youth. As Stephanie Camacho Van-Dyke, an Orange County mental health professional who works with LGBTQ+ youth states, "“There is probably a reason why that youth has not come out to their parent at that time. It should be up to that young person to decide when they want to and when they're ready to do so.”

Partisan Strategies Utilized in Nonpartisan Superintendent Campaign

Lance Christensen, Vice President of Education Policy & Government Affairs at CPC, ran for superintendent of public instruction in California against Democrat Tony Thurmond in the 2022 election. Despite being the only nonpartisan statewide office in California, both opponents used political influence in their campaigns for superintendent. Christensen's platform worked against teachers unions, sex education, critical race theory, and various measures meant to prevent COVID-19 enacted in schools.

Thurmond won the Nov. 8 election in a 66% to 34% vote.

CPC Organizes Rally to Open Schools During Pandemic

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Cecilia Iglesias, Executive Director of Education and Community Relations at the California Policy Center, organized a rally to reopen schools that were previously closed due to the coronavirus. The rally was officially hosted by CPC's "Parent Union," a pro-charter school group founded by Iglesias. Around 75 people attended the rally, advocating for reopening schools and allowing parents to choose whether or not to have their children attend. Held outside the local teachers' union offices, the rally also made a point to protest teachers' unions. The Parent Union condemned teachers' unions who have not only advocated for online learning, but also "have largely spoken against charters."

CPC Involved in Ghostwritten Report to Open Schools

In early July of 2020, the Orange County Board of Education saw national criticism for passing guidelines to reopen schools without masks or social distancing measures. In addition to advocating for in-person schooling, the proposal stated that there is no scientific evidence to support the use of face masks- a direct contradiction to the CDC. The Board justified its proposal, claiming the report had been drafted by a panel of experts. Shortly after however, some panel members asked to have their names removed from the report; they asserted they had never even been consulted about it. Instead, Dr. Ken Williams Jr., president of the Board of Education, and Will Swaim, president of the California Policy Center, wrote the proposal. Swaim claims that nearly 80% of the report was written before the 11-person panel ever met. Neither Williams Jr. nor Swaim were listed as authors on the report. While Swaim did not get paid for his work on the proposal, he stated his writing was consistent with his work for the California Policy Center.

Recall of CPC's Cecilia Iglesias

After 2 years on the Santa Ana city council, Cecilia Iglesias was recalled. Iglesias, the Executive Director of Education and Community Relations at the CPC, began to face recall efforts after she "attacked" local unions. The Santa Ana police union lead the recall effort.

CPC Attacks Unions in Lawsuit

The California Policy Center alongside the Center for Individual Rights filed a lawsuit against members of the California Public Employment Relations Board. The lawsuit concerns a 2018 law that prohibits public employers from discouraging workers from joining unions. The law, signed by then Gov. Jerry Brown, was intended to allow public employees the decision to join unions without threat from their employers. The CPC, however, sees the law as unconstitutional: an infringement on free speech.

Encouraging NAACP In-Fighting

In 2016, the NAACP Board of Directors called for a moratorium on the expansion of charter schools. Three years later in 2019, three California branches challenged the national leaders, calling for the moratorium to be overturned. Heading this challenge was Christina Laster, Education Chair of the Southwest Riverside branch. Laster is also the President of the Inland Empire Parent Union, a pro-charter school group founded by the California Policy Center. A blog post on the CPC's website described Laster's dissent as the "CPC teaming up with NAACP." Volunteers for the NAACP such as Rick Callender, Vice President for the California Hawaii NAACP suspect "[Laster] is being paid to try and manipulate the NAACP."

Ties to the State Policy Network

CPC is a member of the State Policy Network. SPN is a web of right-wing “think tanks” and tax-exempt organizations in 48 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom. As of June 2024, SPN's membership totals 167. Today's SPN is the tip of the spear of far-right, nationally funded policy agenda in the states that undergirds extremists in the Republican Party. SPN Executive Director Tracie Sharp told the Wall Street Journal in 2017 that the revenue of the combined groups was some $80 million, but a 2022 analysis of SPN's main members IRS filings by the Center for Media and Democracy shows that the combined revenue is over $152 million. 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.

Funding

The California Policy Center is not required to disclose its funders. Its major foundation funders, however, can be found through a search of IRS filings. Here are the know funders of CPC:

• Adolph Coors Foundation: $35,000 (2021)
• American Endowment Foundation: $20,250 (2020, 2022)
• Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation: $30,000 (2021-2023)
• Bank of America Charitable Foundation: $1,000 (2018)
• Beall Family Foundation: $10,000 (2017)
• Bertha and John Garabedian Charitable: $3,000 (2020-2022)
• Bradley Impact Fund: $200,050 (2021)
• Cbis Foundation Inc: $50,000 (2022)
• Charles Koch Foundation: $10,000 (2017)
• David and Arnette Jorgenson: $75,000 (2016-2022)
• Donors Capital Fund: $100,000 (2021)
• DonorsTrust: $377,500 (2020-2022)
• Draper Foundation: $1,600,000 (2017-2021)
• Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund: $249,200 (2016-2017)
• Girard Foundation: $25,000 (2019)
• Greater Horizons: $10,000 (2016)
• Institute for the American Worker: $5,000 (2022)
• IT Takes a Family Foundation: $11,000 (2015-2017)
• K&F Baxter Family Foundation Inc C/O Whittier Trust: $5,000 (2022)
• Laguna Beach Community Foundation: $1,000 (2017)
• Lawrence and Sandra Post Family Foundation: $1050 (2014-2017)
• Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation: $450,000 (2020-2021)
• Margaret M Bloomfield Family Foundation: $1,060,000 (2019-2022)
• Marin Community Foundation: $11,000 (2021)
• National Christian Charitable Foundation: $5,000 (2016)
• Orange County Community Foundation: $42,000 (2017, 2019)
• Passport Foundation: $100,000 (2020)
• PGBeil Foundation: $4,000 (2019-2020)
• Roe Foundation: $25,000 (2020)
• Santoro Education of Lifeskills Foundation Inc: $5,000 (2020)
• Sgt Mark Antonowitsch Foundation: $35,000 (2021-2023)
• Silicon Valley Community Foundation: $80,000 (2019-2021)
• State Policy Network: $661,138 (2014-2017, 2019-2022)
• Tawny and Jerry Sanders Charitable Foundation: $520 (2019)
• Troesh Family Foundation: $25,000 (2020)
• W A Mueller Foundation: $1,220 (2020)

Core Financials

2022

• Total Revenue: $1,580,873
• Total Expenses: $1,821,312
• Net Assets: $1,507,213

2021

• Total Revenue: $3,268,638
• Total Expenses: $2,536,358
• Net Assets: $1,756,918

2020

• Total Revenue: $2,039,168
• Total Expenses: $1,802,423
• Net Assets: $1,024,638

2019

• Total Revenue: $2,248,103
• Total Expenses: $2,212,741
• Net Assets: $787,893

2018

• Total Revenue: $1,313,416
• Total Expenses: $1,227,312
• Net Assets: $86,104

2017

• Total Revenue: $1,331,130
• Total Expenses: $1,279,246
• Net Assets: $426,999

2016

• Total Revenue: $835,491
• Total Expenses: $683,235
• Net Assets: $375,115

2015

• Total Revenue: $716,119
• Total Expenses: $600,424
• Net Assets: $222,826

2014

• Total Revenue: $346,890
• Total Expenses: $274,905
• Net Assets: $105,161

2013

• Total Revenue: $170,147
• Total Expenses: $167,792
• Net Assets: $33,176

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

Personnel

As of June 2024:

Staff

• Marki Barke, Director
• Mark W. Bucher, Chief Executive Officer
• Will Swaim, President
• Lance Christensen, Vice President, Education Policy & Government Affairs
• Cecilia Iglesias, Executive Director of Education and Community Relations
• Dawn Collier, Communications Director
• Andrew Davenport, Policy & Research Associate
• Julie Hamill, Attorney
• Rebecca Holz, Director of Operations
• Cecelia Iglesias, Founder & Director of Latino Engagement|Parent Union
• Liz Lawler, Major Gifts Officer
• Abby Lehnig, Kern Regional Director
• John Moorlach, Senior Fellow & Director, Center for Public Accountability
• Mark Moses, Senior Fellow
• Jackson Reese, Vice President of Development
• Houston Reese, Director of the Janus Project
• Edward Ring, Director, Water and Energy Policy
• Myron Steve, General Counsel
• Sheridan Swanson, Research Manager

Senior Fellows & Policy Analysts

• Carl DeMaio, Senior Fellow-Fiscal Policy
• Ed Ring, Contributing Editor and Senior Fellow. Former President

A list of "Contributors and Advisors" can be accessed here.

Former Staff

• Paul Olivett, Development Director
• Scott Kaufman, Research Associate
• Kevin Wen, Research Associate
• Kevin Dayton, Policy Analyst
• Marc Joffe, Policy Analyst
• Chad Morgan, Legal Counsel
• 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)
• Buckley Morlot, Executive Vice President
• Koppany B. Jordan, Executive Director of Operations
• Magda Gomez, Assistant Director of Parent Union

Board of Directors

• Robert W. Loewen, Chairman
• Mark W. Bucher, Chief Executive Officer
• David Bahnsen, Board Director
• Jim Palmer, Board Director
• Dale Okuno, Board Director
• Patrick Wade, Board Director

Former Director

• TJ Zane
• John Kruger

Contact Details

California Policy Center
18002 Irvine Blvd.,Suite 108
Tustin, CA 92780

Email: contact@calpolicycenter.org

Web: http://californiapolicycenter.org

Twitter: @CalUnionWatch

Facebook: California Policy Center

Linkedin: California Policy Center

Resources and Articles

IRS Form 990 Filings

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

Articles

• David Armiak, Bradley Foundation Funds “Opt-Out” Campaign to Cripple Public Sector Unions, ExposedbyCMD, June 25, 2019.