Roughly 1,500 attendees from all 50 states gathered in Phoenix, Arizona for SPN’s 32nd Annual Meeting to discuss strategy, celebrate recent policy wins, and accelerate state solutions that will have a lasting national impact.
Former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey kicked off the conference with a breakfast keynote conversation with SPN Senior Executive Vice President Tony Woodlief. During his tenure, Gov. Ducey was a beacon of free-market innovation, pioneering reforms in K-12 education, healthcare, and taxes while also reducing government overhang and reducing the state’s budget.
A former CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, Gov. Ducey used his business-driven experience to implement sustainable solutions in Arizona that have been replicated across the nation.
“People thought it was impossible to break the four-minute mile mark until Roger Bannister did it, and now thousands have replicated his success,” said Governor Ducey. “Twelve states have now passed universal Education Savings Accounts, following in Arizona’s footsteps. I don’t think it will be long until mothers in Chicago and Los Angeles want that choice for their children too.”
But these reforms weren’t just the product of Gov. Ducey. They were part of a team effort, one that SPN and its Network champion. Together, we are able to incubate and accelerate state solutions that have a lasting, national impact.
“I want to thank State Policy Network,” said Gov. Ducey on the topic of teamwork, “When you look at individual organizations, like Arizona’s Goldwater Institute, so many good things happen when they partner with other groups.”
SPN President and CEO Tracie Sharp also gave a keynote address where she talked about the Network’s secret weapon to success – the durable freedom infrastructure. Our Network consists of 62 state-focused policy organizations working to solve problems in their states.
In order to win bigger and for the long term, many of them have built out this “durable freedom infrastructure” in their states to include key partners in different capacities that are essential to sustained success.
These include capacities like investigative journalism, advocacy and political outreach, litigation, leadership academies, candidate training, and voter insights. The durable freedom infrastructure is custom to each state and uniquely tailored to help firmly cement policy reform in place for generations to come. These capacities don’t replace the traditional think tank model, but enhance it, allowing good ideas to go further, faster.
“This is a model that we must accelerate – and model is the right word here.
This is not meant to be some one-size-fits-all straitjacket, because every state is different…and every state that’s done this has customized it to fit what works there.”
To show the power that this infrastructure has already made in the Network, Tracie was joined by Matthew Brouillette from Commonwealth Partners and Dave Trabert from Kansas Policy Institute to talk about the power that DFI has had in their states.
“Opportunities multiply as they are seized,” shared Dave, “Don’t be afraid to go out and take it. Adjust when you need to, but don’t be afraid to make mistakes.”
“Why are we doing this?” asked Matt. “Why do we fight like this, why do we have a passion for it? We’re fighting for people who don’t have a voice and need us to win these battles. We need to speak up for those who can’t speak up for themselves.”
Our Annual Awards Dinner is a time of celebration. Celebrating the tremendous impact our Network has had in states across the nation, and celebrating the Network leaders who lead the charge.
The Thomas A. Roe Award, for example, is named after SPN’s Founder and pays tribute to those in the state public policy movement whose achievements have greatly advanced the free market philosophy, and recognize leadership, innovation and accomplishment in public policy.
We are pleased to announce that the 2024 Thomas A. Roe Award went to Lawson Bader, CEO of DonorsTrust and incoming chairman of SPN’s board of directors.
Lawson has an extensive twenty-year history as a leader in the freedom movement, ranging from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University to the Competitive Enterprise Institute and most recently DonorsTrust.
At DonorsTrust, Lawson works to connect donors with the missions and visions they most align with, allowing them to drive policy victories that matter most to them. This guidance has added more and more fuel into this Network, firing up think tanks to tackle policy challenges that were previously unthinkable.
“SPN’s strength IS our ideas, values, principles, people and the durable institutions we have built and inherited.” said Lawson during his acceptance speech, “We are in a moment when we all need to give of our time, talent, and our dollars to protect, defend and promote the general welfare that IS this great nation—but, more importantly, to protect, defend and promote the founding principles of this great Republic. We are, after all, the United States of America.”
The Bob Williams Awards celebrate state think tanks doing exceptional work to develop and disseminate credible policy research and ideas that can help states implement free-market solutions that have a national impact. You can read more about our winners, and our other outstanding nominees here:
· Most Influential Research: John Locke Foundation – Energy Crossroads: Exploring North Carolina’s Two Energy Futures
· Best Issue Campaign: Georgia Public Policy Foundation – Highlighting the Negative Effects of CON Laws
· Best Home State Win: Pelican Institute for Public Policy – Bringing Universal School Choice to Louisiana
· Biggest Win for Freedom: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii – Enacting Housing Reforms and the Largest Tax Cut in State History
· Best State-Based Litigation: Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty – Stopping the Biden Administration’s Race-Based Business Development Program
