The Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) a free market nonprofit think tank with offices in Chicago and Springfield . Founded in 2002, it is active in the areas of education policy, pension policy, and state budget issues. IPI advocates for smaller government and lower taxes. It has an affiliated lobbying arm and legal arm. IPI is a member of the State Policy Network , a consortium of free-market think tanks in the U.S.
7-480: Originally founded by Greg Blankenship, the organization was relaunched by John Tillman in 2007. It expanded its work and influence after Tillman took over. IPI raised $ 341,000 in 2007 and $ 6.4 million in 2016. In 2018, the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that "Its studies and opinion pieces on cutting government spending and boosting transparency became must-read material to many Republicans, some Democrats — and
14-535: A stake." Tilllman denied any wrongdoing, saying "Obviously, these are all fully disclosed transactions, all at fair market value as they should be." Following the Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. AFSCME , plaintiff Mark Janus left his job with the state of Illinois to become a senior fellow at IPI, which had helped fund his case. John Tillman (policy) John Tillman is a conservative activist who runs
21-742: A state appeals court allowed the lawsuit to proceed. Tillman runs the American Culture Project, founded in 2019. The group is ostensibly a non-political non-profit and is organized as such for tax and funding disclosure purposes, but internal emails showed that the organization sought to advance the Republican Party's prospects in the 2022 elections. The organization runs Facebook pages that present themselves as non-partisan local news and community-building hubs, but which are intended to promote content that advance Republican Party interests. In communications with wealthy donors,
28-768: The Illinois Policy Institute (IPI), a libertarian think tank , and the American Culture Project, which seeks to advance Republican Party interests. Tillman held roles with Americans for Limited Government and the Sam Adams Alliance . He serves on the board of the National Taxpayers Union . In 2011, Tillman won the Roe Award from the State Policy Network . The annual award "pays tribute to those in
35-572: The Koch, Mercer, Uihlein, and Rauner families. The group worked closely with former Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner , a Republican and past donor to IPI, during the first several years of his gubernatorial tenure. However, Rauner's relationship with IPI deteriorated in part due to an article by ProPublica Illinois and the Chicago Sun-Times which reported that IPI's leadership had "moved millions of dollars around five interconnected nonprofits they run, steering money to for-profit ventures in which they have
42-782: The governor of Illinois." IPI was described by ProPublica Illinois as "arguably the most influential conservative organization in the state." The Chicago Sun-Times described the group as "leading a crusade against government regulations, state spending and labor unions in Illinois." IPI formerly operated the Illinois News Network, transferring ownership of that entity to the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity in January 2018. IPI has received financial support from charitable foundations associated with
49-630: The state public policy movement whose achievements have greatly advanced the free market philosophy." He also runs the Franklin News Foundation , which obtained funding during the COVID-19 pandemic to push for opposition to COVID-19 public health restrictions. Tillman sued the State of Illinois , alleging that it took on more debt than permissible under the state constitution , and seeking to halt payments on municipal debt. In 2020,
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