Graves said that the individual thinktanks who make up SPN present themselves as "neutral, non-partisan groups, but are in fact part of a national network to project the voices and interests of some of the most powerful corporations and families in the country".
If you follow her, you know that she enjoys margaritas (especially on Fridays), that she feels out of sorts when her husband is away, and that she is a huge fan of the television show "Supernatural" (#SPN).
The Center for Media and Democracy asserts that the State Policy Network (SPN), an umbrella group of 64 thinktanks based in each of the 50 states, is acting as a largely beneath-the-radar lobbying machine for major corporations and rightwing donors.
SPN works in parallel with the American Legislative Exchange Council, Alec, a forum that brings together largely Republican legislators and corporations to devise model bills that are used to attack workers' rights in various US states.
Gordon Lafer, a professor at the University of Oregon, said that SPN groups were actively targeting the rights of often non-unionised employees.
Groups like Alec, SPN, and Americans United for Life now serve as de facto lawmakers in many state governments.
Tracie Sharp, the president of SPN, rebutted the charge that it operates as a rightwing lobbying network.
Last month, it released a report alleging SPN is largely funded by global corporations and groups and foundations associated with the conservative billionaires David and Charles Koch.
SPN intended to seek funding for promising proposals from the Searle Freedom Trust, an important donor to conservative groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council, Americans for Prosperity, and SPN itself, according to the Guardian.
The CMD study uncovered a public document that listed SPN's funders in 2010.
