Alabama Policy Institute

The Alabama Policy Institute produces the 1819 podcast, which features discussions about Alabama politics, culture, and faith from a conservative perspective. ³ In March 2021, the Alabama Policy Institute launched its litigation arm, the Alabama Center for Law and Liberty. ⁴

Alabama Policy Institute is an associate member of the State Policy Network, a coalition of free-market state-level policy organizations. ⁵ While API is non-partisan, members of its staff and board have affiliations with the Republican Party.

Activity

The Alabama Policy Institute is a non-partisan, conservative public policy think tank that advocates for public policy approaches supporting free markets, limited government, and strong families. ¹

The Alabama Policy Institute opposes teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT) in K-12 schools. API claims CRT, which is supported by groups like the ACLU of Alabama and the National Education Association (NEA), aims to teach students left-progressivism, pushes liberal policies, and “preaches division, discord, and defeat.” API instead believes that students should be taught their own self-worth as a way to advance in society. ⁶

The Alabama Policy Institute advocates for conservative health care reform that fixes the issues it claims were created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). API proposes free-market policy that focuses on the individual doctor-patient relationship, encourages competitive pricing by enacting price transparency, and allows individuals to choose levels of coverage. ⁷

The Alabama Policy Institute opposed Alabama’s medical marijuana bill, which was passed in 2021 under Republican Governor Kay Ivey. API claimed that legalizing medical marijuana in Alabama would be against the law because the possession or sale of marijuana is illegal under federal law. API further claims that state governments around the country are defying federal laws in order to create profit for businesses that will be permitted to grow, process, and dispense marijuana along with governments who collect taxes on marijuana sales and licensing fees. ⁸

Funding

The Alabama Policy Institute is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. While API does not disclose its donors, tax filings show donations from the National Christian Charitable Foundation ($272,193 in 2017), ⁹ the Jaquelin Hume Foundation ($25,000 in 2011), ¹⁰ and the Roe Foundation ($20,000 in 2012). ¹¹

People

Staff

Caleb Crosby is the president and CEO of the Alabama Policy Institute. Crosby formerly held positions at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Treasury, and the White House during the George W. Bush administration. Crosby worked as a finance consultant for John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign and as the chief financial officer for the National Republican Congressional Committee. Crosby sits on the board of the National Christian Foundation and the United Way. ¹²

Phil Williams is the chief policy officer and general counsel at API. Williams is a former Republican member of the Alabama State Senate, where he served as the chair of the Alabama Senate Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development and as vice chair of both the Committee on Judiciary and the Committee on Finance and Taxation. ¹³

Justin Bogie is the senior director of fiscal policy at API. Bogie formerly worked as a senior policy analyst in fiscal affairs at the Heritage Foundation, a budget policy advisor to the Trump 2016 Presidential Campaign, and a policy advisor for the majority staff of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget. ¹⁴

Bill Hightower is a distinguished fellow at API and former Republican Alabama state senator. ¹⁵

Chad Mathis is a distinguished fellow at API. Mathis formerly served as a senior health policy advisor to the deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and as the chair of the Alabama chapter of the American Federation for Children. ¹⁶

Drayton Nabers is a distinguished fellow at API. Nabers, a Republican, formerly served as an Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice and as the Alabama State Finance Director. Nabers formerly worked as the director of the Frances Marlin Mann Center for Ethics and Leadership at Samford University. ¹⁷

Distinguished fellow Bryan Taylor formerly served as a Republican in the Alabama State Senate and as general counsel to Alabama Governor Kay Ivey (R). ¹⁸

Board of Directors

Tom Bradford is a co-founder of API and serves on the executive committee. Bradford is president and chair of the National Christian Foundation Alabama and the former chair of the United Way of Central Alabama. ¹⁹

Chad Mathis serves on the board and is a distinguished fellow at API. Mathis formerly served as a senior advisor at the Department of Health and Human Services during the Trump Administration. ²⁰

Advisory Council

Justin Barkley formerly served as president of the Greater Birmingham Young Republicans²¹ and was a Republican candidate for Alabama House of Representatives in 2014. ²²

Britney Garner formerly worked as the political director of the Alabama Republican Party and as a coordinator on the gubernatorial campaigns of both former Governor Robert Bentley (R) and unsuccessful political candidate Tim James (R). ²³

Andrew Levert formerly worked as a legislative assistant to then-U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry (R-LA) and former U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-LA). ²⁴