SOURCE: SourceWatch.org, 2020-06-09 | note red flags re: SourceWatch.org
Funded (in part) by the Bradley Foundation.
See also: American Legislative Exchange Council [ALEC]
Fair Lines America (FLA) is a registered 501(c)4 non-profit that works to prevent independent redistricting commissions from establishing in the states, conducts redistricting trainings, and weighs in on redistricting litigation. FLA's executive director is Adam Kincaid, who also serves in the same capacity for the National Republican Redistricting Trust.
NRRT senior adviser Guy Harrison told Politico of Kincaid's leadership, "Adam is a chief authority on redistricting within our party, and he has the experience and expertise to meet the Democrat litigation juggernaut head-on."
FLA has a sister registered 501(c)3 organization: Fair Lines America Foundation.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) held a six-part training session "Mapping America" for "legislative leadership and key redistricting staff" in May 2020 by "our good friends at Fair Lines." (See ALEC section below for more.)
FLA filed an amicus brief in support of Citizens Protecting Michigan's Constitution's legal challenge to the creation of the independent commission following a 2018 vote to create an independent redistricting commission. The measure passed with 61.8 percent of the vote.
In 2019, the Bradley Foundation gave Fair Lines America Foundation $100,000 to "support start up efforts." Fair Lines America Foundation is also an "approved grant recipient" of Bradley's donor advised fund, the Bradley Impact Fund.
In 2017, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), publishers of SourceWatch, launched a series of articles on the Milwaukee-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, exposing the inner-workings of one of America's largest right-wing foundations. 56,000 previously undisclosed documents laid bare the Bradley Foundation's highly politicized agenda. CMD detailed Bradley's efforts to map and measure right wing infrastructure nationwide, including by dismantling and defunding unions to impact state elections; bankrolling discredited spin doctor Richard Berman and his many front groups; and more.
Find the series here at ExposedbyCMD.org.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) held a six-part training session for "legislative leadership and key redistricting staff" in May 2020 by "our good friends at Fair Lines."
"The first, titled 'Redistricting Basics and the 2020 Census,' gave an 'overview of the tools and skills' needed for redistricting and featured "experts" on the 2020 Census.
The May 13 2020 webinar on 'Changes in Redistricting Law' again featured 'experts' who spoke on the 'volume and impact of liberal (i.e. Democrats) litigation this decade and the changing redistricting legal landscape heading into 2021.'
Attendees to the third webinar scheduled for this afternoon, May 14 2020, will hear from 'academic experts and lawyers' on 'The Fourteenth Amendment, Voting Rights Act, and Recent Academic Literature.'
The fourth webinar on May 19 2020, titled 'Redistricting Data Science,' will delve into the technical resources available to map drawers and how FLA and its Foundation can be of assistance.
'Commission Litigation and Engagement,' the fifth webinar on May 21 2020, will focus on legal challenges to redistricting commissions and how to 'engage' with them, and the final webinar on May 27 will give legislators the 'tools' to defend their 'maps, push back against liberal redistricting strategies, and go on offense,'" David Armiak reported for the Center for Media and Democracy.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve "model" bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.
FLA and FLA Foundation are not required to disclose their funders. Two major funders of FLA Foundation, however, were found through a search of IRS filings and annual reviews. Here are the know funders of WILL:
Grants Distributed
As of December 2018:
Staff:
Board of Directors:
[ExposedByCMD.org, 2021-09-28] GOP Megadonor Art Pope Plays Leading Role in GOP Gerrymandering Operation.
When Fair Lines America, a nonprofit created in 2010 to promote the GOP's gerrymandering efforts, created the Fair Lines America Foundation at the end of 2018 to funnel tax-exempt funds into its operation, it chose Art Pope to be its president, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax filings show.
It was a savvy move. Art Pope, a millionaire businessman and active member of the Koch political network, played a major role in the Republican Party takeover of the North Carolina legislature in 2010 and the governor's mansion in 2012, and he helped the GOP behind the scenes to draw district lines to lock in their power after the 2010 census.
Three groups backed by Pope, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), Civitas Action, and Real Jobs NC, along with Pope family members and his company spent $2.2 million in two dozen key state races in the November 2010 election, resulting in an 82% win rate, according to a Facing South [Institute for Southern Studies] report.
[ ... snip ... ]
For more on Art Pope, see: "Dark Money ATM" Pumped Over $137 Million Into Right-Wing Groups in 2020
Republican Party megadonor and Koch operative, James Arthur "Art" Pope, is president and treasurer of Fair Lines America Foundation, CMD revealed. Art Pope is also the founder of the Civitas Institute, a State Policy Network member organization.]
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