Mountain States Policy Center

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The Mountain States Policy Center (MSPC) is a 501(c)(3) organization that calls itself a "multi-state think tank" with a mission “to empower individuals to succeed through non-partisan, quality research that promotes free enterprise, individual liberty and limited government.”[1] The organization is headquartered in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, with coverage in Washington, Montana, and Wyoming.

MSPC was founded in 2022 by Chris Cargill to serve the "fastest-growing area" in America and has grown to be the largest "think tank" in the region.[2] According to the 'Idaho Capital Sun', the center is committed to engaging with the media, which sets it apart from the Idaho Freedom Foundation, which does not have a relationship with the media. Cargill states, “We really feel like we should be out there talking with the media, talking with citizens all across our great state and telling them about free market policies.”[3]

The right-wing "think tank" is listed as an affiliate member of the State Policy Network (SPN).[4]

News and Controversies

Controversy Surrounding School Choice Research Funding

As discussed in a recent article in the Idaho Capital Sun, the Mountain States Policy Center has launched a campaign advocating for education savings accounts (ESAs) called “Education Choice Improves Outcomes,” citing data from rightwing billionaire Betsy DeVos's American Federation for Children to support their claims.[5] Led by senior policy analyst Amber Gunn, the center argues that ESAs empower families by allowing them to choose educational options best suited for their children, regardless of religious affiliation. Gunn highlights recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, like Espinoza v. Montana and Carson v. Makin, which she believes pave the way for Idaho to implement such programs without violating constitutional principles. Despite ties to the State Policy Network, the center asserts its research independence and commitment to improving educational outcomes through evidence-based policy recommendations. According to Idaho Capital Sun, Cargill said that the MSPC is funded locally, not by the SPN, ALEC, or mega funders like the Kochs or DeVos and that the “research and recommendations are backed up by actual data, footnoted throughout our studies and linked to on our website.”[6]

MSPC Misrepresents Ranked-Choice Voting

According to George Moses of the Idaho Statesman, the MSPC incorrectly represented ranked-choice voting in an opinion article which was riddled with "several errors of analysis and outright errors of fact". Moses clarifies that RCV "does not violate one person, one vote" and corrects the misconception about voter exhaustion and runoff elections, noting that RCV increases voter engagement and hastens election results.[7]

Ties to the State Policy Network

Mountain States Policy Center 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.[8] 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.[9]

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.'"[10]

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.[11]

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

Senior staff at MSPC, Chris Cargill (CEO and founder) and Jason Mercier (Vice President and Director of Research), both have significant experience with the Washington Policy Center (WPC), an organization affiliated with the State Policy Network (SPN) and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). According to his LinkedIn profile, Chris Cargill served as the Eastern Washington Director at WPC.[12] Meanwhile, Jason Mercier spent 16 years as the Director of the Center for Government Reform at WPC.[13] Senior Policy Analyst Amber Gunn is also connected to the SPN and ALEC as she served as Director of Economic Policy for the Freedom Foundation, a member of the SPN and as a voting member on ALEC's Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force.[14]

According to the organization's website, MSPC has been endorsed by Dr. Ben Carson, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and Sen. Jim Risch Alumni, among others.[15] These individuals are linked to ALEC through previous membership or involvement in the council's events.[16][17][18]

About ALEC
ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our ExposedbyCMD.org site.

Funding

Mountain States Policy Center is not required to disclose its funders. Its major foundation funders, however, can be found through a search of the IRS filings. Here are some of the known funders:

  • Schwab Charitable Fund: $15,650 (2022)


Core Financials

2022[19]

  • Total Revenue: $113,729
  • Total Expenses: $176,114
  • Net Assets: $-62,385

Personnel

Staff

As of June 17, 2024:[20]

  • Chris Cargill, Founder, President & CEO
  • Jason Mercier, Vice President & Director of Research
  • Amber Gunn, Senior Policy Analyst
  • Madilynne Clark, Senior Policy Analyst
  • Sebastian Griffin, Marketing & Comm Coordinator
  • Bob Pishue, Visting Fellow
  • Dr. Roger Stark, Visting Fellow
  • Robyn Antoine, Research Assistant
  • Olivia Johnston, Contributor
  • Sam Cardwell, Contributor

Board of Directors

As of June 17, 2024:[21]

  • Julie Shiflett, Chair, Coeur d'Alene
  • John S. Otter, Vice Chair, Boise
  • William Junkermier, Treasurer, Missoula
  • Brittany Gautreau, Secretary, Eagle
  • Chris Cargill, President
  • Bill Baldwin, Hayden
  • Bonnie Quinn Clausen, Spokane
  • Hon. Dan Kristiansen, Eagle
  • Hon. Dean Haagenson, Coeur d'Alene
  • Russ Stromberg, Eagle
  • Todd Cranney, Boise
  • Scott Schoenherr, Boise
  • Aaron Klein, Eagle
  • Elaine Damschen, Coeur d'Alene
  • Chris Patterson, Priest Lake
  • Dave Denton, Coeur d'Alene

Contact Information

Mountain States Policy Center
PO Box 2639
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 83816

Phone: (208) 295-9525
Email: info@mountainstatespolicy.org
Website: https://www.mountainstatespolicy.org
X: @MtnStatesPolicy
Facebook: @Mountain States Policy Center
Youtube: @mountainstatespolicy

Articles and Resources

IRS Form 990 Filings

2022

References

  1. ↑ Mountain States Policy Center, About, organizational website, accessed June 17, 2024.
  2. ↑ Mountain States Policy Center, About, organizational website, accessed June 17, 2024.
  3. ↑ KELCIE MOSELEY-MORRIS, New free market-focused Idaho policy center wants to have ‘adult debates’, 'Idaho Capital Sun', October 5, 2022.
  4. ↑ State Policy Network, Directory, organizational website, accessed June 17, 2024.
  5. ↑ KELCIE MOSELEY-MORRIS, Records show powerful, wealthy funders outside Idaho back school choice campaign, Idaho Capital Sun, FEBRUARY 3, 2023.
  6. ↑ KELCIE MOSELEY-MORRIS, Records show powerful, wealthy funders outside Idaho back school choice campaign, Idaho Capital Sun, FEBRUARY 3, 2023.
  7. ↑ GEORGE MOSES, Mountain States Policy Center misleads public about ranked-choice voting in Idaho, Idaho Statesman, MAY 16, 2023.
  8. ↑ David Armiak, State Policy Network and Affiliates Raises $152 Million Annually to Push Right-Wing Policies, ExposedbyCMD, September 30, 2022.
  9. ↑ Rebekah Wilce, Center for Media and Democracy, EXPOSED: The State Policy Network -- The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government, organizational report, November 13, 2013.
  10. ↑ Jane Mayer, Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?, The New Yorker, November 15, 2013.
  11. ↑ Ed Pilkington and Suzanne Goldenberg, State conservative groups plan US-wide assault on education, health and tax, The Guardian, December 5, 2013.
  12. ↑ LinkedIn, Chris Cargill, LinkedIn Profile, accessed June 18, 2024.
  13. ↑ Mountain States Policy Center, Staff, organizational website, accessed June 18, 2024.
  14. ↑ Mountain States Policy Center, Staff, organizational website, accessed June 18, 2024.
  15. ↑ Mountain States Policy Center, Endorsements, organizational website, accessed June 18, 2024.
  16. ↑ ALEC, All Speakers from the ALEC States and Nation Policy Summit, organizational website, accessed June 18, 2024.
  17. ↑ ALEC, 2023 ALEC ANNUAL MEETING IN ORLANDO: LIVESTREAM, organizational website, accessed June 18, 2024.
  18. ↑ ALEC, Alumni, organizational website, accessed June 18, 2024.
  19. ↑ Mountain States Policy Center, 2022 IRS Form 990, Internal Revenue Service, 2022.
  20. ↑ Mountain States Policy Center, Staff, organizational website, accessed June 17, 2024.
  21. ↑ Mountain States Policy Center, Board, organizational website, accessed June 17, 2024.
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