The Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) is a libertarian nonprofit

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 ...

with offices in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

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 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 ...

, a consortium of free-market think tanks in the U.S.

History

Originally founded by Greg Blankenship, John Tillman relaunched the organization in 2007. The organization 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 the governor of Illinois." IPI was described by

ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit organization based in New York City. In 2010, it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize, for a piece written by one of its journalists''The Guardian'', April 13, 2010P ...

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 the Koch, Mercer, Uihlein, and Rauner families.

Operations

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 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.

References

External links

* {{official, https://www.illinoispolicy.org Political and economic think tanks in the United States Libertarian think tanks Libertarian organizations based in the United States Conservative organizations in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Chicago 501(c)(3) organizations