The State Policy Network (SPN) is an umbrella group of right-wing think tanks across the country.

The Independence Institute is the State Policy Networks cookie-cutter think tank for Colorado. While the Institute claims to be focused on issues important to Coloradoans, they actually push an agenda dictated by its national right-wing funders and partners.

The Independence Institute is a member of the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). At ALEC, corporate lobbyists and state lawmakers go behind closed doors to vote on model laws, with no input from the public, that end up helping the corporations bottom line. The Independence Institute is a member of ALECs Education Task Force, International Relations Task Force, and Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force.

The Independence Institute is notable for its significant funding from some of Americas most notorious right -wing families: the Kochs, the Coors, and the Bradleys. : The Independence Institute has received at least $141,000 directly from Koch foundations, in addition to the $1,727,000 it has received from the Koch-funded Donors Capital Fund and Donors Trust. The Independence Institute participates in the Charles G. Koch Summer Fellowship Program, through which it can receive funding for summer interns and also other close connections to Koch organizations such as Americans for Prosperity and the Cato Institute. The institute has supported repealing Colorados carbon tax, opposed a renewable energy mandate, and advocated against clean energy government loans, all which could benefit the big oil interests of the Koch brothers and the two Koch corporations that operate in Colorado: Koch Mineral Services and Flint Hills Resources. : The Coors family is known for their involvement in Republican politics in Colorado and funding right-wing causes through its Castle Rock Foundation, and the Independence Institute is an essential part of the familys political agenda. Between 1995 and 2008, the Independence Institute has received $760,000 from the Coors Castle Rock Foundation. Today, Jeffrey Coors, a prominent member of the Coors Family and former President of the Coors holding company, sits on the Independence Institutes board of trustees and is the treasurer of the Castle Rock Foundation, raising a possible conflict of interest. : Since 2004, the Independence Institute has received $715,000 from the Wisconsin-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. The Bradley Foundation is known for funding organizations dedicated to the privatizing public education, and the Independence Institute is no exception. The institute has launched an Education Policy Center focused on promoting public school privatization, attacking teachers rights, and promoting tax credits for corporations that fund privative schools. All of those policy proposals are also part of the agenda of the ALEC Education Task Force, which the Independence Institute sits on.

The Independence Institute has a long history of attacking Colorados public school system. The institute, as a member of ALECs Education Task Force, has supported measures to defund Colorados public schools through vouchers, restrict the collective bargaining rights of teachers, and give corporations tax credits for funding private schools.

In 1998, when institute Chairman Schuck served as the chairman of Coloradans for School Choice For All Kids, the Independence Institute reportedly funneled $84,000 in campaign donations from the Independence Institute into Coloradans for School Choice, which could be in violation of the Institutes 501(c)(3) status. Schuck eventually resigned from both positions. [The Denver Post, 9/2/1998]

have one overriding purpose and thats to piss off nanny-ist who wants to take our rights.

Logos used to promote the Independence Institutes Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms parties. At the 2008 party, Independence Institute president Jon Caldara said: We

 Privatize Public Schools Block Access To Affordable Healthcare Oppose Gun Safety Measures Oppose Environmental and Pollution Protections Destroy Public Pensions Attack Workers Right to Organize and Bargain Cut Off Funding and Revenue For Essential Government Services
[Independence Institute, accessed 8/2013)

Despite its IRS status as a 501(c)(3) organization, which forbids nonprofit organizations from participating in partisan political and campaign activity, the Independence Institute has made 143 political contributions totaling $485,128. The recipients include Healthcare Choice for Colorado, Ethical Standards Now, the Committee to Elect Jim Dyer, Taxpayers Against Congestion, Colorado Republican Committee, Colorado Republican State Central Committee, Jefferson City Republican Central Committee. The Independence Institutes campaign activities have led to complaints being filed against them in the Colorado Secretary of States office, alleging that the institute failed to comply with campaign finance and registration laws in Colorado by not disclosing its donors when the institute produced radio ads on two tax-related ballot issues in 2005.

In 1998, it became public that Independence Institute President Tom Tancredo loaned money to himself and others from the institutes bank account. The loans were used as a down payment on a rental house Tancredo and his wife bought and for a Caribbean cruise for the Institute s office manager. In addition, the Institute's Visa card was used to pay for the employee's seven-day cruise from Puerto Rico. After the fact, several members of the board of directors resigned in protest of the act, including Marsha Brekke, one of the original founders of the Institute, who said she was concerned that the organization was becoming nothing more than a political action committee. Tancredo resigned during the scandal to run for Congress.
[The Denver Post, 8/7/1998]

Some of the Independence Institutes former leaders have gone to hold high government office and become controversial political leaders in the US and Colorado, including:

Former Republican U.S. Congressman Tom Tancredo, who also ran for President and Governor of Colorado in recent years, is a former president of the Independence Institute. Tancredo was known for his extremely conservative views and controversial remarks regarding immigration.

Republican John Andrews, a former President of the Colorado State Senate, is the founder of the Independence Institute and the former chairman of the State Policy Network. During his tenure in the Colorado State Senate, ALEC named Andrews National Legislator of the Year.

Republican Donald Hodel, U.S. Secretary of Interior and Secretary of Energy under President Reagan, is a former Chairman of the Independence Institute. After leaving the Reagan administration, Hodel would go on lead the ultra-conservative Christian Coalition and founded FreeEats, a firm that used push polls which targeted gay marriage and abortion rights.