Kalpana Kalpana (Editor)

Freedom Foundation (Washington)

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Formation
  
1991

Leader
  
Tom McCabe

Founded
  
1991

Location
  
Olympia, WA

Founder
  
Bob Williams

Freedom Foundation (Washington) httpslh6googleusercontentcomlcijufdjr9MAAA

Motto
  
Because People Want To Be Free

Type
  
Public policy think tank

Budget
  
Revenue: $2,170,285 Expenses: $2,211,611 (FYE December 2014)

Similar
  
State Policy Network, Service Employees Internatio, Freedoms Foundation, American Conservative Union, Donors Trust

Profiles

The Freedom Foundation (formerly known as the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, or EFF) is a state-based free market conservative think tank located in the state of Washington. The Freedom Foundation has offices in the states of Washington and Oregon, and has approximately 20 staff members and over 5,000 volunteers and financial supporters. The organization is registered with the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

Contents

Background and mission

Freedom Founation was founded in 1991 by Lynn Harsh and former Republican legislator and gubernatorial candidate Bob Williams. The organization, a member of the State Policy Network, has a stated mission "to advance individual liberty, free enterprise, and limited, accountable government." The governing principles of the organization are to "eliminate the desire for dependence on government that has permeated [American] culture," and to promote an understanding of the principles of liberty by "disseminat[ing] those truths and motivat[ing] the citizen to act upon them."

Policy/issue areas

The Freedom Foundation's efforts center on public policy research and advocacy in the areas of state budget and tax policies, labor, welfare, health care and education reform, and citizenship and governance issues.

Right-to-work

In 2014, the Supreme Court ruled in the Harris v. Quinn case that the “First Amendment prohibits the collection of an agency fee from the plaintiffs in the case, home healthcare providers who do not wish to join or support a union.” In February 2017, having determined that the "Service Employee International Union and state governors weren't going to inform home health works about their ability to leave the union," Freedom Foundation launched the "Labor Reform Project", a grassroots and public relations effort to inform these workers of their rights.

In a 2015 fundraising letter the foundation’s goal was described as intended to defund and defeat public-sector unions to help weaken Democratic control in the American northwest. Their CEO wrote that, “Labor bosses are the single greatest threat to freedom and opportunity in America today. By taking money from hard-working, dues-paying Americans, they’re funding a broken political culture in states like Oregon and Washington." He added, “The Freedom Foundation has a proven plan for bankrupting and defeating government unions through education, litigation, legislation and community activation.”

In March 2015 the foundation filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of four family child-care providers who objected to paying union fees to SEIU 925. In December 2015 the foundation encouraged government employees to quit their union membership by dressing as Santa Claus and standing in government buildings.

Union worker fees

In 2007 the foundation filed a complaint against the Washington Education Association (WEA), accusing the union of unlawfully spending worker fees on politics. In response to that complaint, the state in turn sued the teachers union on the grounds that the WEA was unlawfully spending some workers' fees on politics. The matter was taken on appeal to the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court decided that states can require public-employee labor unions to get consent from workers before using their fees for political activities. The Washington State Legislature later modified the law in a way that blunted the court's decision.

Other issue areas

The foundation has filed numerous lawsuits and complaints against public-sector unions, including with respect to the ability of a union to speak to newly-hired government employees and a union's failure to file all required political spending reports. Policy analysts for the Freedom Foundation have also opposed minimum wage increases and mandatory paid sick leave.

Activities

In 2007 the foundation sponsored the "Take the Field with Glenn Beck" event at Seattle's Safeco Field. About 7,000 people attended.

In November 2015 the foundation pulled one of its podcasts on which the podcast host and a Washington state legislator laughed at the Middle Eastern surname of a state Democratic Party spokesman.

In May 2016 a judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Freedom Foundation by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office, and dismissal of that case was appealed to the Washington Supreme Court. The lawsuit accused the Freedom Foundation of breaking state campaign-finance laws. Ferguson's office has also filed campaign-disclosure lawsuits against several unions in response to complaints from the Freedom Foundation. Two affiliates of the Service Employees International Union settled lawsuits by agreeing to pay civil penalties to the state over campaign-disclosure omissions.

In October 2016 the office of Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced that it had filed a complaint alleging campaign finance violations by the Freedom Foundation regarding the organization's opposition to Initiative 1501, a statewide ballot measure. The complaint was initiated by the Service Employees International Union, which organized the campaign promoting the initiative.

References

Freedom Foundation (Washington) Wikipedia