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

The Maine Heritage Policy Center (MHPC) is SPNs cookie-cutter think tank for the state of Maine. While MHPC claims to be focused on issues important to the people of Maine, it actually pushes an agenda dictated by its national right-wing funders and partners.

The Maine Heritage Policy Center is a member of the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council, where corporate lobbyists and lawmakers vote on "model" legislation behind closed doors, with no public input, that often benefits the corporations' bottom line. MHPC has been a member of ALEC's Education Task Force, which focuses on privatizing public education and attacking teachers' rights, and also hosted the director of ALEC's Health and Human Services Task Force, Christie Herrera, at a 2010 event on opposing healthcare reform.

Defund and privatize Maine's public schools

Block access to affordable healthcare for Maine families Push anti-worker so-called "Right to Work" laws Cut retirees' benefits and destroy public pensions Promote voter suppression laws, including eliminating same day registration and requiring a photo ID Oppose renewable energy

Maine Heritage Policy Center, accessed 11/1/2013

MHPC runs The Maine Wire, which fashions itself as a news outlet. The Maine Wire actually serves as a megaphone for conservative interests by publishing stories and opinion pieces favorable to the agendas of the MHPC's national backers and allied legislators, while also attacking Democrats and progressives. The Maine Wire's claim of journalistic legitimacy is further undermined by its status as a watchdog partner of the national conservative group the Franklin Center. Not only does the Franklin Center receive support from national conservative interests such as the Koch Brothers, it also provides significant financial support to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Although MHPC claims 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, which requires it to be nonpartisan, records from the Maine Commission of Governmental Ethics and Election Practices reveal several financial connections between MHPC and the Maine Republican Party. The Maine Republican Party twice contributed to MHPC, $200 in 2007 and $2,000 in 2011. The funding, though, has also gone in the other direction: in 2010, MHPC gave $300 to the Maine GOP.

MHPC is largely funded by right-wing out-of-state special and corporate interests, many of which are associated with the Koch brothers. The largest known donor is the Koch-funded Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund, known as a the dark money ATM of the conservative movement. The two Donors groups have contributed nearly $2 million to MHPC between 2005 and 2011. Other notable funders include the Coors familys Castle Rock Foundation (of Coors Brewing Company), the California-based Jaquelin Hume Foundation, the South Carolina-based Roe Foundation, the Cato Institute, and the State Policy Networknone of which are based in Maine.