The State Policy Network (SPN) is a web of right-wing think tanks in states across the country.

The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy is an SPN right-wing think tank in Ohio. Other SPN organizations in Ohio include Opportunity Ohio, a new right-wing think tank staffed by former Buckeye Institute executives, and the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law , the Buckeye Institutes spinoff right-wing litigation center. While the Buckeye Institute claims to be focused on issues important to the people of Ohio, it actually pushes a right-wing agenda dictated by its national right-wing funders and partners.

The Buckeye Institute has received significant funding from big tobacco corporations, while consistently opposing tobacco taxes and providing legal support to try to overturn Ohios statewide public smoking ban. Buckeye received at least $60,000 from Philip Morris and the Tobacco Institute between 1995 and 2001. The funding, though, didnt end there, as Buckeye has appeared on Altrias (formerly Philip Morris) 2009 and 2012 lists of organizations receiving corporate contributions.

The Buckeye Institute is largely funded by right-wing out-of-state foundations, and does not disclose its donors to the public despite its influence in shaping public policy in Ohio. Among Buckeyes largest known donors is the Koch-funded Donors Capital Fund, which funneled over $1 million to Buckeye between 2005 and 2010. The original funders of Donors Capital Fund are kept anonymous, therefore adding another layer of secrecy. The Buckeye Institute has also received at least $38,281 directly from the Koch brothers foundations. Other notable known Buckeye funders include the Coors familys Castle Rock Foundation (of Coors Brewing Company), the California-based Jaquelin Hume Foundation, the South Carolina-based Roe Foundation, and the Virginia-based State Policy Network.

In May 2012, the Buckeye Institute released a report advocating for making Ohio a so-called "right to work" state. The report was primarily written by ALEC scholar and right-wing economist Richard Vedder. A literature review by Policy Matters Ohio refuted Vedders claim that right-to-work states outperform non-right-to-work states specifically in the manufacturing sector. The review concluded that the claim that right-to-work in Ohio would increase a family income by thousands was outrageous and had been disproven. Policy Matters Ohio stated that Vedders claims on employment growth and growth in per capita income in right-to-work states were misleading and in some cases factually wrong.

Attack workers rights by pushing socalled right to work legislation and supporting Gov. Kasichs SB-5 collective bargaining repeal in 2011 Defund and privatize Ohios public schools with voucher programs

Block access to affordable healthcare for Ohio families Oppose the federal governments loan to the auto industry, which saved thousands of Ohio jobs Oppose renewable energy and pollution protections Cut retirees benefits and destroy public pensions Cut corporate taxes

The Buckeye Institute, despite its right-wing agenda and murky financing, has attempted to operate as a state house news organization, but was denied press credentials in the Ohio legislature by the Ohio Legislative Correspondents Association in 2010. Previously, in 2003, The Columbus Dispatch banned the institute and announced that it would no longer publish op-eds bearing the Institute or its scholars names after it was discovered that Buckeye Director Joshua Hall plagiarized part of a recently published opinion piece.

Buckeye Institute, accessed 11/4/2013