Center For State-Led National Debt Solutions

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The Center For State-Led National Debt Solutions(CSDNS), (dba Balanced Budget Now!) is a 501(c)(3) Washington D.C.-based organization "to educate state legislators, members of Congress and the general public regarding the dire state of our nation’s finances, and potential solutions which include a Balanced Budget Amendment proposed by Congress or the states via convention."[1] Former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker serves as CSDNS's "National Honorary Chair" while Loren Enns is the President of the CSNDS Board of Directors "as well as prime content expert and educational field operative for the balanced budget amendment (BBA) campaign." Many former Republican politicians and conservative activists additionally serve in positions of CSDNS leadership.

Enns quit his job as a software engineer as he "grew alarmed about the debt over the years." According to the Washington Post, 2015 was when Enns decided to "focus full-time" on the CSDNS.[2]

According to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, the amendment CSDNA is promoting is "an idiotic one." Backed by corporate interest such as the Koch brothers, the plan CSDNS advocated for would mean "there would be less money for government regulation, so that corporations could pollute our environment with impunity, and break the labor laws with impunity, and engage in financial fraud with impunity" according to Matthew Rothschild.[3] Robert Greenstein, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, penned an article in the Washington Post titled "a constitutional convention could be the single most dangerous way to ‘fix’ American government" arguing that the push for a Constitutional Convention is by "well-organized, arch-conservative group" is "dangerous, unknown territory."[4] Antonin Scalia opposed the idea on the grounds that "there would be nothing to stop a constitutional convention, once it convened, from taking up issues far beyond its original mandate, and tiny states like Vermont or Wyoming would be on equal footing with megastates like California and Texas," according to the Washington Post.[2]

Other Names

The Committee for a Fiscal Responsibility Amendment (known as the Balanced Budget Amendment Foundation) previously was listed as an educational effort of CSDNS. Balanced Budget Amendment Inc was listed as a "sister organization" of CSDNS.[5] However, according to the State Legislator's Article V Caucus CSDNS is simply another name for the the BBA Foundation.[6]

According to the New American, CSLNDS is the new name of the BBA Foundation, and "while it is theoretically a distinct organization from the Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force (BBA Task Force), [BBA Foundation/CSNDS] President Loren Enns is the BBA Task Force campaigns director and four BBA co-founders sit on the BBA Foundation [CSNDS] boards of directors and advisors."[7]

Scott Walker Consulted for $189K

According to CSNDS's 2019 IRS filing, the Walker Group received $189,032 for "consulting services."[8]

Target States

As of May 2021, CSNDS lists following states as part of "a 10-state educational initiative to (1) refocus attention on the problem and (2) inform state legislators of the constitutional options they have to solve it":[9]

  • Connecticut
  • Idaho
  • Kentucky
  • Maine
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Montana
  • South Carolina
  • Virginia
  • Washington

Funding

The Center For State-Led National Debt Solutions is not required to disclose its funders but major foundation supporters can be found through their IRS filings. Here are some known contributors:

  • Charles R And Nancy L Charitable Foundation: $5,000 (2020)
  • Easter Foundation: $10,000 (2019)
  • National Philanthropic Trust: $250,000 (2019)
  • National Christian Charitable Foundation: $25,000 (2019)
  • Starr Foundation: $25,000 (2019)

Core Financials

2021[10]

  • Total Revenue: $95,370
  • Total Expenses: $95,705
  • Net Assets: -$2,150

2020[11]

  • Total Revenue: $135,775
  • Total Expenses: $218,686
  • Net Assets: -$1,815

2019[8]

  • Total Revenue: $603,286
  • Total Expenses: $477,192
  • Net Assets: $81,096

2018[12]

  • Total Revenue: $28,300
  • Total Expenses: $91,664
  • Net Assets: -$44,998

2017[13]

  • Total Revenue: $89,994
  • Total Expenses: $119,129
  • Net Assets: $18,366

Personnel

As of September 2023:[14]

Leadership

Former Leadership

Board of Directors

  • Former Governor of Virginia George Allen
  • Hon. Greg S. Casey, Sr.
  • Chad Connelly
  • Loren Enns, President
  • Former U.S. Senator Judd Gregg
  • Former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee
  • Former U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV
  • Gov. Butch Otter
  • Constantin Querard
  • Former Gov. Ed Schafer
  • Former Gov. Scott Walker, Former Hon. Chair

Former Directors

  • Retired Adm. William Owens
  • Former Governor of North Dakota Ed Schafer
  • President and founder of the National Tax Limitation Committee Lewis K. Uhler
  • Steve Moore
  • Former member of the Oklahoma House Gary Banz
  • Former U.S. Senator Norm Coleman
  • Robert Frank, Treasurer
  • Professor Barry Poulson
  • Former U.S. Comp. Gen. Dave Walker

Executive Committee (No longer listed on website as May 2021)

Board of Advisors

  • Former Senator Ben Campbell
  • Former U.S. Senator Norm Coleman
  • Former Amb. Mick Mulvaney
  • Adm. William Owens (Ret)
  • Karrin Taylor Robson, president and CEO of Arizona Strategies
  • Former U.S. Comp. Gen. Dave Walker

Former Advisors

Fiscal Rules Working Group[15]

  • Judd Gregg: Former Senator from NH (1993-2011) and member of the Simpson Bowles commission.
  • David M. Walker: Former Comptroller General of the US, former CEO of the Government Accountability Office, former CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, and Founder and CEO of the Comeback America Initiative.
  • Barry Poulson: Professor of Economics at the University of Colorado.

Contact Information

Center for State-Led National Debt Solutions
1747 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20006
Website: http://csnds.org
Email: info@csnds.org

Federal tax identification number: 20-3302521

Articles and Resources

IRS Form 990 Filings

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

References

  1. ↑ CSDNS home organizational website, accessed May 2, 2019
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 James Hohman The Daily 202: Scott Walker plans to crusade for a balanced-budget amendment via constitutional convention The Washington Post March 19, 2019
  3. ↑ Matthew Rothschild Scott Walker’s New Idiotic Job Wisconsin Democracy Campaign March 19, 2019
  4. ↑ Robert Greenstein [1] The Washington Post Oct 21, 2014
  5. ↑ CSDNS Donate to Assist Our Educational Efforts Cached version of an organizational website, accessed May 2, 2019
  6. ↑ Article V Caucus September Newletter accessed May 3, 2019
  7. ↑ C. Mitchell Shaw Who’s Behind a Constitutional Convention? The New American Aug 29, 2019
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Center for State-Led National Debt Solutions, 2019 IRS Form 990, organizational filing, November 9, 2020.
  9. ↑ CSNDS, State Legislators, CSNDS, accessed May 2021.
  10. ↑ Center for State-Led National Debt Solutions, 2021 IRS Form 990, organizational filing, May 10, 2022.
  11. ↑ Center for State-Led National Debt Solutions, 2020 IRS Form 990, organizational filing, November 9, 2021.
  12. ↑ Center for State-Led National Debt Solutions, 2018 IRS Form 990, organizational filing, May 6, 2019.
  13. ↑ Center for State-Led National Debt Solutions, 2017 IRS Form 990, organizational filing, May 6, 2019.
  14. ↑ CSNDS, Leadership, CSNDS, accessed September 2023.
  15. ↑ CSNDS Fiscal Rules Working Group organizational website, Accessed May 13, 2019
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