The Kansas Policy Institute (KPI) is a

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...

American

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

based in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

. A member of the

State Policy Network The State Policy Network (SPN) is a nonprofit organization that serves as a network for conservative and libertarian think tanks focusing on state-level policy in the United States. The network serves as a public policy clearinghouse and advises ...

, it primarily focuses on state and local policy issues in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, including education, budget and spending, health care, and property taxes. The president of the KPI is Dave Trabert and the chairman of the board is George Pearson.

History

The group's stated mission is to "advocate for free market solutions to public policy issues and the protection of personal freedom for all Kansans." Founded in 1996 as the Kansas Public Policy Institute, the think tank changed its name to the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy, then back to Kansas Policy Institute in 2009. It was founded by a group of Kansans who supported the

Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Indust ...

and wanted to apply that model to Kansas

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...

. KPI hosts events across the state; publishes studies geared toward policy makers, the general public, and community leaders; and uses traditional and social media to discuss state and local government through the free market perspective. In addition to its policy studies, KPI maintains a site titled KansasOpenGov.

Issues

Education funding

In 2010, KPI raised awareness about the State Unencumbered Fund balances, concluding that state school districts had over $699 million in carryover operating funds. The institute concluded that schools were not spending all of the money they were being given and were instead putting money in the bank. This claim drew both positive and negative attention from the media and school boards and the issue became a topic of conversation in the

K-12 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acquired ...

finance debate. SB 111 passed the

Kansas Legislature The Kansas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a bicameral assembly, composed of the lower Kansas House of Representatives, with 125 state representatives, and the upper Kansas Senate, with 40 state senators. ...

in the 2011 session, allowing Kansas school districts to more easily access that money to offset declines in base per-pupil aid from the state.

Awards

The institute's president, George Pearson, received the John J. Ingalls Spirit of Freedom Award from the

Atlas Network Atlas Network, formerly known as the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, is a non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States that provides training, networking and grants for libertarian, free-market, and conservative groups ...

in 2016.

References

External links

* {{official, http://www.kansaspolicy.org Think tanks based in the United States Political and economic think tanks in the United States Organizations established in 1996 Organizations based in Wichita, Kansas Conservative organizations in the United States Libertarian think tanks Politics of Kansas