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The Koch Agenda in Colorado: Giving to Academic Institutions to Help Assimilate Colorado’S Youth

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The Koch Agenda in Colorado: Giving to Academic Institutions to Help Assimilate Colorado’S Youth RR44OOHHECECKK++YYOO MMCCHHOOSSkUkUNNTTAAIINN HHIIGGHH David and Charles Koch are turning states into their own political playgrounds, using their billions to influence policy to suit their business and personal needs, and Colorado is one of the most prolific examples. Together with their network of dark money groups, the Koch brothers are fighting to impose policies that fit their agenda while hurting middle-class Colorado families. In 2014, the Kochs topped the list of the 50 wealthiest billionaires who own property in Aspen’s Pitkin County. Charles and David have used their wealth to push their agenda through their vast network in Colorado, influencing both state and federal matters. The Kochs even made Aspen and Vail locations for their private donor retreats, where they discussed the “threat” of unions, climate regulations, and financial regulations. Their brother, Bill Koch, followed their lead of buying local influence, and created a non-profit solely to persuade Pitkin County to approve new guardrails near his Aspen mansion. Koch Industries operates several businesses in Colorado, where they’ll do whatever is necessary to better their bottom line even if it harms the state or its people. Several Koch entities in Colorado clashed with the EPA for failing to register facilities, violating reporting requirements and for not complying with emission rules. While they claim to advocate against increased state spending, Koch Financial Corp had “more than $80 million in contracts” with Colorado since 1996, including purchase and lease agreements, and even road construction, which they subsequently botched. Americans For Prosperity (AFP) is the most entrenched Koch group in Colorado politics. AFP supported numerous extreme policies, such as the state’s divisive Taxpayer Bill of Rights, and killing the job-sustaining wind production tax credit. AFP- Colorado’s state director pledged in 2014 that AFP would “engage in policy fights at all levels of government” each and every year. AFP meddled in everything from Colorado’s U.S. Senate race down to school board election fights. In 2013, AFP targeted two Democratic state senators in recall elections which were sparked by their votes on gun safety following a mass shooting. AFP spent “significant money” to go after then Senate President John Morse’s “tax and spend polices,” and then Senator Angela Giron’s support for expanding the state’s renewable energy mandates. After the recall election, Morse and Giron’s extreme GOP replacements supported TABOR as well as the Kochs’ self-enriching energy and labor agenda. The LIBRE Initiative, the Kochs’ so called Hispanic outreach group, set up shop in the state, engaging Hispanics in Colorado on issues including school choice and immigration reform; but, to mask their true agenda. LIBRE also ingratiated itself into Colorado Hispanic communities by offering services like tax preparation help, scholarships and wellness check-ups. These public facing efforts hide their true agenda that harms the Latino community including opposing deportation protections, fighting against the minimum wage, and wanting to take away health care benefits. To make inroads into a similarly influential Colorado community, Concerned Veterans for America vowed to expand their Colorado efforts, where nearly 400,000 veterans call home. It was in Colorado that Concerned Veterans for America first proposed privatizing the VA. Another Koch-backed group, The American Legislative Council (ALEC), worked to influence a host of Colorado’s such as a fracking chemical disclosure bill and multiple federal lands transfer bills, all based on ALEC’s model legislation. Colorado has 8.3 million acres of public lands, along with 27 million acres of mineral estate. If the Kochs and ALEC are successful in their bid to take back this public land, they would be able to buy it from the state and use it for their business while spoiling it for everyone else. In 2002, “at least half” of Colorado’s state lawmakers were members of ALEC. During the 2014 U.S. Senate race between Colorado’s Democratic Senator Mark Udall and Republican Rep. Cory Gardner, the Koch network ran over 4,600 ads in the state. Eight Koch groups, including the LIBRE Initiative and Concerned Veterans for America, participated in “issue advocacy” during the election. Freedom Partners Action Fund spent $2.5 million in support of the eventual winner, Gardner. In 2014, Koch Industries and the Koch-funded American Future Fund contributed a combined $800,000 to the Republican Attorneys General Association, which bought $2.6 million worth of TV ads in support of Republican Colorado Attorney General Candidate Cynthia Coffman. The Kochs’ support for Coffman shows their hypocrisy on criminal justice reform— Coffman was against legalizing marijuana, a reform that two Koch-funded groups have pushed to improve criminal justice. Speaking of justice, brother Bill Koch allegedly kidnapped someone in Colorado (make sure to read to the end of the report). The Kochs treat Colorado as a personal, political, and business playground, but the games they play challenge the ability of Coloradans to govern their own state, put at risk the livelihoods of the state’s residents, and jeopardize the natural beauty that defines Colorado. Table of Contents Wealthy Koch Brothers Have Turned The Centennial State Into Their Political Playground .................................................................................................................................................. 1! David & Charles Koch Have Multimillion Dollar Homes In Aspen ........................................................... 6! Koch Brothers’ Private Donor Retreats In Colorado ................................................................................... 8! Koch Industries’ Operations In Colorado ............................................................................... 9! The Koch Agenda In Colorado: Giving To Academic Institutions To Help Assimilate Colorado’s Youth .................................................................................................................. 15! The Koch Agenda In Colorado: Americans For Prosperity .................................................. 16! AFP Was Founded By The Koch Brothers And Has Received Millions From Koch-Allied Dark Money Groups ......................................................................................................................................................... 17! Leadership ................................................................................................................................................... 17! AFP Announced It Was Expanding Its Grass-Roots Infrastructure In The Politically Important Centennial State ........................................................................................................................................... 19! 2013 Recall Election ................................................................................................................................... 20! AFP-Colorado Supported The State’s Flawed Taxpayer Bill Of Rights ................................................... 25! 2011 Colorado Springs Mayoral Race ......................................................................................................... 28! Education ................................................................................................................................................... 29! Energy/Environment ................................................................................................................................. 36! Americans For Prosperity Said That Federal Land Should Be Sold .......................................................... 43! Labor ........................................................................................................................................................... 44! Export-Import Bank ................................................................................................................................... 45! Health Care ................................................................................................................................................ 46! Other AFP-Colorado Lobbying .................................................................................................................. 47! The Koch Agenda In Colorado: American Legislative Exchange Council .......................... 47! ALEC Is Connected To The Kochs ........................................................................................................... 47! ALEC Has Influenced A “Host Of Colorado Laws” ................................................................................. 48! Public Lands ............................................................................................................................................... 49! Energy/Environment .................................................................................................................................. 51! Right To Work ............................................................................................................................................ 54! Education ................................................................................................................................................... 54! Taxpayer Bill Of Rights ............................................................................................................................. 54! Legal
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