Opportunity Solutions Project
The Opportunity Solutions Project (OSP), an alias of FGA Action, is the 501(c)(4) branch of the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), a right-wing, Florida-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit. OSP has been tax exempt since 2015.[1]
The Opportunity Solutions Project and the Foundation for Government Accountability share staff members, including Tarren Bragdon, who is the CEO of both organizations, and Jonathan Bechtle, who is the COO of FGA and the Executive Vice President of OSP.
According to the organization's website, OSP "brings together citizens and thought leaders across America to identify proven state-level reforms and promote them to voters, the media, and state policymakers. It often partners with educational policy organizations, sharing its high-quality research and data analysis with state lawmakers to ensure new laws are carefully crafted to expand opportunity and freedom for all."[2]
Contents
News and Controversies
Federal Lobbying Efforts to Include Work Requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
As reported by Vox, the Foundation for Government Accountability "lobbied Congress through the Opportunity Solutions Project to include work requirements for SNAP in the 2018 farm bill; the requirements made it into the US House of Representatives version but didn’t pass the Senate. The Trump administration’s 2020 budget, introduced in March, embraces the same concept."[3]
Opposed "South Dakota Accountability and Anti-Corruption Act"
While still operating as "FGA Action", OSP set up a website called Measure 22, which opposed South Dakota Measure 22, an anti-corruption ballot measure which opposed dark money, barred candidate coordination with outside groups, regulated independent expenditures, required donor disclosure of issue ads, and "provide[d] a small dollar public financing mechanism, [set] rules for lobbyists and gifts and create[d] an ethics commission to investigate violations of ethics and campaign finance rules."[4]
Ties to Other Right-Wing Think Tanks and Groups
The Opportunity Solutions Project is connected to the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Cato Institute, the Franklin News Foundation, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Maine Heritage Policy Center, and the State Policy Network through its partner organization, Foundation for Government Accountability. (Visit FGA's page for more detailed information.)
Funding
The Opportunity Solutions Project is not required to disclose its funders but major foundation supporters can be found through their IRS filings. Here are some known contributors:
- Judicial Crisis Network: $3,090,000 (2019-2022)
- Wellspring Committee: $350,000 (2017)
Core Financials
2022[5]
- Total Revenue: $4,043,739
- Total Expenses: $3,501,021
- Net Assets: $3,745,963
2021[6]
- Total Revenue: $4,141,360
- Total Expenses: $3,454,225
- Net Assets: $3,203,245
2020[7]
- Total Revenue: $2,540,034
- Total Expenses: $2,213,532
- Net Assets: $2,516,810
2019[8]
- Total Revenue: $2,672,441
- Total Expenses: $1,937,683
- Net Assets: $2,242,363
2018[9]
- Total Revenue: $2,402,006
- Total Expenses: $1,745,616
- Net Assets: $1,502,850
2017[10]
- Total Revenue: $1,850,000
- Total Expenses: $1,066,084
- Net Assets: $846,460
2016[10]
- Total Revenue: $575,000
- Total Expenses: $513,565
- Net Assets: $62,544
Personnel
As of January 2024:[2]
Staff
- Tarren Bragdon, Chief Executive Officer
- Jonathan Bechtle, Executive Vice President; former CEO, Freedom Foundation
Board of Directors
- Joyce Errecart, Chairwoman
- Frank Mazur
- Carol Weston
- Bill Coley
Former Directors
- Dean Clancy
Visiting Fellows
- Nicholas Adolphsen
- Sam Adolphsen
- Eric Bledsoe
- Allen Cambon
- Scott Centorino
- Nicholas Horton
- Haley Holik
- Jonathan Ingram
- Chase Martin
- Brian Sikma
- Nicholas Stehle
- Tavis Taylor
Former Fellows
- Josh Archambault
- Robin Walker, Senior Visiting Fellow
Contact Information
Opportunity Solutions Project
75 N Woodward Avenue No 80038
Tallahassee, FL 32313
EIN: 47-3125722
Website: https://solutionsproject.org/
Web contact: https://solutionsproject.org/contact/
Phone: (850) 792-4704
Articles and Resources
Related SourceWatch
- 501(c)(3)
- 501(c)(4)
- American Legislative Exchange Council
- Cato Institute
- Foundation for Government Accountability
- Franklin News Foundation
- Freedom Foundation
- Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
- Maine Heritage Policy Center
- State Policy Network
- Tarren Bragdon
- Wellspring Committee
External Resources
- David Armiak and Mary Botari, "Kochs Battle Dark Money Disclosure in South Dakota", ExposedbyCMD, October 31, 2016.
IRS Form 990 Filings
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
References
- ↑ Guidestar, Fga Action Inc, organizational website, accessed April 20, 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Opportunity Solutions Project, About, organizational website, accessed April 20, 2021.
- ↑ Jared Bennett, Inside the shadowy think tank pushing to kick 3.1 million people off food stamps, Vox, September 4, 2019.
- ↑ David Armiak and Mary Botari, "Kochs Battle Dark Money Disclosure in South Dakota", ExposedbyCMD, October 31, 2016, accessed April 20, 2021.
- ↑ Opportunity Solutions Project, 2022 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, November 13, 2023.
- ↑ Opportunity Solutions Project, 2021 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, August 30, 2022.
- ↑ Opportunity Solutions Project, 2020 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, October 11, 2021.
- ↑ Opportunity Solutions Project, 2019 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, September 23, 2020.
- ↑ Opportunity Solutions Project, 2018 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, September 18, 2019.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Opportunity Solutions Project, 2017 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, September 14, 2018.
