In this series, SPN highlights leaders within our Network who are driving positive change in their states and achieving victories that serve as a model for others.
From the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains to the white-sand beaches of the Gulf Shores, Alabama’s landscape reflects the character of its people—rooted in tradition but driven by progress and innovation. The state was the backdrop of pivotal moments in American history, including the Civil Rights Movement, and home to the legendary Tuskegee Airmen of World War II. The city of Huntsville, Alabama, known as Rocket City, USA, is the birthplace of American rocketry, developing the technology that put Americans on the moon. The state has also left its mark on American culture, inspiring iconic songs like rock n’ roll band Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” and American songwriter Jason Isbell’s “Alabama Pines,” celebrating its natural beauty, Southern charm, and history.
The motto on Alabama’s state seal reads, “Audemus jura nostra defendere,” which translates from Latin to “We dare defend our rights.” It’s also inspired Alabama Policy Institute CEO Stephanie Smith to return to public policy after taking time away to do an important job: raise her seven children.
“I came back to engage in the fight for our country and our founding principles,” said Stephanie. “I told myself I would only return to work in public policy if I was part of an organization that I believed represented and defended the things I value—free enterprise, limited government, and an overarching vision that uplifts and supports families and communities.” That organization was the Alabama Policy Institute (API).
For 35 years, the Alabama Policy Institute has been a leading voice for free markets, limited government, and empowering Alabama families. 2024 has been a banner year for API, with Stephanie at the helm. In March, Governor Kay Ivey signed into law the CHOOSE Act, allowing up to $7,000 in state funding per student in the form of a tax-credit Education Savings Account or funds families can use to customize learning. Alabama is the 11th state to pass universal education freedom legislation. API has been advocating for education freedom since the late 1980s and moved the needle on this issue through key messaging and strategic coalitions.
“This has been hands down the biggest victory for me as CEO,” said Stephanie. “When I talk with individual families, foster parents, and guardians about this legislation, they’ve shared how it is empowering them and giving them the agency to give their child the best education possible. We’re really proud of that.”
Thanks to SPN supporters and a coalition of national and state partners, including Alabama Policy Institute, Americans for Prosperity, American Federation for Children, EdChoice, Yes. Every Kid., and ExcelinEd, Alabama students can access educational opportunities that set them up for success. “SPN was a huge supporter of our efforts, particularly our Alabama Education Freedom Day event in Montgomery, where policymakers, leaders, and students from a local charter school gathered at the capitol steps in support of this bill. Frankly, that Education Freedom Day would not have happened without SPN’s partnership, and in hindsight, even people outside of our state point to that day as the catalyst for getting that legislation passed.”
Education freedom isn’t the only issue API has tackled. In her first year as CEO in 2023, Stephanie led the API team to deliver two bipartisan tax cut bills, which eliminated the state portion of the overtime tax, led by Democrat Anthony Daniels, and the reduction of the state grocery tax, led by Republican Danny Garrett. API was part of a bipartisan coalition led by Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth and served as a sounding board for lawmakers deliberating the bills. As a trusted resource for state legislators, API offers expertise and research that help inform critical decisions and drive effective policy solutions.
Policy wasn’t always Stephanie’s passion, nor did she envision herself as the policy advocate she is today. It was only after hearing Newt Gingrich speak during the 1994 Congressional elections when she was a college student at Auburn University that she started to develop an interest in the ideas behind political rhetoric.
“For the first time, I heard how restricting government was actually increasing freedoms, something I had not heard articulated before.”
The more she listened to the ideas discussed on the political stage, Stephanie realized that while politicians might have an expiration date, policy can endure for generations.
She would go on to dedicate her career to shaping and accelerating policies that benefit every American. After graduation, Stephanie worked for the Fortune 500 company Regions Financial Corporation as a paralegal while earning her master’s degree in public administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the evenings. However, it was the government affairs side of the company that gave her the foundation to understand the importance of good policy and the power of policy engagement. “I talked my way into becoming the assistant for governmental affairs because it felt that it was missing a grassroots component that would make wonky policy ideas real for the average person,” said Stephanie. She created their governmental affairs program to help citizens better understand policy and engage with their local political leaders on the issues that they cared about the most.
This taught her the power of messaging and how to bring seemingly mundane topics like the state budget to the kitchen table. “When you start talking about hundreds of millions of dollars, people’s eyes start to glaze over. It’s not what the average taxpayer deals with on a day-to-day basis. Having a messaging strategy and bringing budgetary numbers to individuals’ personal understanding helps to bridge knowledge gaps and highlight what percentage increases in the state budget mean for you as the taxpayer.”
The more she worked, the clearer it became: Effective policy must extend beyond a top-down approach—it needs compelling messaging and grassroots involvement to see it to the finish line.
After working with Regions, Stephanie joined former Alabama Governor Bob Riley as his deputy finance director. In the early 2000s, Alabama faced a financial crisis that forced the state to meticulously examine every budget line item, cutting excess and restructuring where necessary. “We actually had to fly to New York to plead with the rating agencies not to downgrade the state of Alabama because we were in such a bad position financially,” said Stephanie. That experience solidified Stephanie’s commitment to uphold fiscally responsible policies. “My work with Governor Riley was the basis of my understanding of what being fiscally responsible actually means. Now, I can see all of the waste behind state government spending because I know what our budgets looked like when I was in charge of developing them.”
As a new Network CEO, Stephanie has found SPN’s programs and CEO peer groups to be invaluable. As states like Arizona and North Carolina, which passed universal education freedom prior to Alabama, have faced challenges and defended the implementation of their education freedom programs, both have helped API map out a strategy for next year to hold legislators accountable for what they voted for and to fully fund universal education freedom.
“One of the most positive things about being a part of the SPN CEO peer group is having allies in every single state,” said Stephanie. “They are in the game with you, trying to promote good ideas in your state as well as their own. They are very free with advice and suggestions, but also their failures and what they might have done differently, so you can benefit from their mistakes and possibly have a better outcome. I can’t tell you how helpful that is.”
SPN also provides resources to CEOs to support the advancement of specific policy priorities, convening working groups on healthcare, energy, and fiscal policy. As API gears up for the 2025 legislative sessions, healthcare is top of mind. API is working to advance medical price transparency reforms and expand rural healthcare by repealing burdensome certificate-of-need laws, which require government approval before developing new medical facilities or offering certain services.
“Healthcare is not my area of expertise, and the members of the SPN healthcare working group are experts and incredibly knowledgeable on healthcare policy,” she said. “Being part of the SPN Network gives you the advantage of having a pulse on what is happening in other states and the ability to compare notes and to adapt what’s worked in your own state.”
Even with the success of the past few years, Stephanie and the API team aren’t resting on their laurels. The API team has crafted a Blueprint for Alabama for 2025, mapping out key priorities for the upcoming legislative session. While Alabama is a red state with a Republican supermajority, there is risk of complacency and government officials valuing political affiliation over principles. “There has been a shift in mentality that spending is good as long as you are spending on the ‘right’ things. We really need to ask ourselves what the proper role of government is and whether this is something that the government should be funding. Even the most well-intentioned policies must adhere to fiscal responsibility and accountability.”
Implementation of the CHOOSE Act is also a top priority, as well as ensuring that the funding is in place for families to utilize.
As the American people reflect on the recent election results, Stephanie understands what is at stake. “What keeps me up at night is what we as a movement are up against. Our American institutions, our media, and even our government have strayed so far from what the Founders had envisioned that it can sometimes feel like an uphill battle trying to right the ship,” said Stephanie.
Despite the challenges, she’s also hopeful for what is to come. “As a mom, I have hope that a new generation of Americans will see that the chaos coming out of Washington is not going to work for them or their families. It’s inspiring to see their engagement and the emerging leaders of our movement articulate a hopeful message of why we believe what we believe and why our founding American principles can still cultivate a flourishing American society.”
