Alabama Policy Institute

The Alabama Policy Institute (API, formerly the Alabama Family Alliance) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, conservative think tank which uses its resources to influence public policy, primarily toward the "preservation of free markets, limited government and strong families." It was founded in 1989 by Alabama Supreme Court justice Tom Parker and Gary Palmer, and is headquartered at 2213 Morris Avenue in Birmingham. It changed to its current name in 2000. Caleb Crosby succeeded Palmer as president in September 2014.

API prepares or commissions reports on various issues which it distributes to lawmakers, government officials and to the media and directly to the public. Generally the group has spoken out against proposals for taxes, state lotteries and other means of increasing revenues. It has supported calls for the measures to establish charter schools and public funding for private schools, such as the Alabama Accountability Act. It has also sought to buttress state officials' arguments against the sanctioning of gay marriage. In 2014 API issued a broad report on Alabama's environment, concluding that air quality and other measures were improving and that new environmental regulations are unnecessary.

In February 2015, following a federal probate judges ruling that appeared to nullify the state's prohibition of same-sex marriages, the Alabama Policy Institute joined the Alabama Citizens Action Program in a lawsuit asking the Alabama Supreme Court to halt such marriages until the United States Supreme Court addressed the issue directly. The suit was dropped when the Supreme Court did rule in Obergefell v. Hodges in June.

In 2016, as Governor Robert Bentley called a special session of the Alabama State Legislature with the aim of establishing a state lottery, the API began posting "Fact Check"-styled political advertisements on social media to oppose the proposal.

In 2021 the API launched two wholly-owned subsidiaries: a legal group called the Alabama Center for Law & Liberty, and a media outlet called 1819 News.

References

• "Alabama Policy Institute" (August 21, 2016) Wikipedia - accessed August 24, 2016

External links

• Alabama Policy Institute website