John Arnold and his cronies are the most well-known opponents of public pensions. John Arnold funds the work of the Pew Research Center, the Retirement Security Initiative, the Reason Foundation, and other groups who are attempting to eliminate public pensions. However, these groups are not the only opponents of public pensions. The Koch brothers fund a number of legitimate-sounding organizations in states across the country that release biased anti-pension reports. Our new video exposes the Koch brothers and their network of anti-pension groups.
The Koch brothers are two of the most prominent funders of so-called “dark money” groups in American politics today. You may not immediately think of them when it comes to attacks on public pensions, but they are active behind the scenes funding groups that work to undermine retirement security for working families. In particular, the Koch brothers are active supporters of the State Policy Network (SPN), a national organization of right-wing state-based organizations. Many of these SPN groups regularly release biased anti-pension reports.
Prominent anti-pension groups within the State Policy Network include:
- The Yankee Institute for Public Policy in Connecticut
- The Georgia Public Policy Foundation
- The Illinois Policy Institute
- The Kansas Policy Institute
- The Bluegrass Institute in Kentucky
- The Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Michigan
- The Texas Public Policy Foundation
These groups promote closing defined benefit pensions for public employees and forcing them into 401(k)-style defined contribution plans. This would gut retirement security for working families. The Koch brothers and the SPN groups are hostile to the public sector generally and frequently support actions, such as gutting public pensions, that would undermine public employees.
We want to raise awareness about the Koch brothers and their dark money attacks on public pensions. Watch our new video to learn more:
The best way to fight back is to stand together. Please share this video with your family and friends so we can fight back against these outrageous attacks on public pensions. We are all stronger together.