Florida Policy Institute is a left-of-center research institute focused on state-level policies in Florida. The Institute produces a yearly budget review and policy analyses on education, health care, and immigration policies.

The Institute supports and promotes legislation that would spend and put more taxpayer money into the education system and the health care system, legislation that would support the creation of various infrastructure projects, legislation that would loosen restrictions on immigration , and legislation to raise tax collections. ¹

Funding

Florida Policy Institute receives funding from left-of-center foundations and advocacy groups. The Ford Foundation provided $150,000 to Florida Policy Institute in 2017, indicating in the grant description declared on its tax forms that the contribution was for “general support to promote progressive state tax and budget policies.” ²

The Annie E. Casey Foundation provided FPI with $50,000 to “Support participation in the State Priorities Partnership network”;³ the State Priorities Partnership is a network of left-of-center state-level policy groups associated with the national Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). CBPP itself has also funded FPI, providing a total of $166,000 to the group in 2017. ⁴

Research and Advocacy

The Florida Policy Institute was founded in 2014 in Orlando as a left-leaning policy research and advocacy organization.

The Florida Policy Institute’s research largely focuses on its state budget review, education policy, government health care expenditures like Medicaid, and immigration. Some of their proposals merely for tax reform to disallow tax breaks for the rich and various loopholes. However, some proposals are more substantive and radical, such as urging Congress to establish Medicaid block grants in 2017. ⁵ Moreover, The Florida Policy Institute has called for teacher raises and an end to spending restraint in education. ^{6 7}

Leadership

The current CEO of the Florida Policy Institute is Sadaf Knight. Knight is a career left-progressive activist who has previously worked as a vice president at Carolina Small Business Development Fund, a policy analyst and community leadership fellow at MassBudget, and as a program manager at New York Jobs with Justice (now called Align NY). She holds two degrees including a Bachelor of Science in conservation & resource studies from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Urban Planning from Columbia University. ⁸

The current chair of the Board of Trustees is Mareya Eavy. She is currently the executive vice president of CareerEdge and Education Initiatives, a development strategies company that allocates and creates development strategies for the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce.  She was also the Executive Director for Career Edge Collaborative for Manatee and Sarasota and the Sarasota Area president for United Way Suncoast. ⁹

1. “Outreach & Advocacy.” Florida Policy Institute. Accessed October 31, 2019. https://www.floridapolicy.org/outreach-advocacy.
2. Ford Foundation, Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), Part XV Line 3
3. Annie E. Casey Foundation, Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), Part XV Line 3
4. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, 2017, Schedule I
5. Miller, Naseem S. “Florida Policy Institute Eyes ‘Long-Term’ Impact on State’s Residents.” orlandosentinel.com. Orlando Sentinel, June 5, 2018. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/health/os-florida-policy-institute-20170316-story.html.
6. “DeSantis Announces Commitment to Teacher Raises – But Questions Remain About Veteran Teacher Pay.” Florida Policy Institute. Accessed October 31, 2019. https://www.floridapolicy.org/posts/desantis-announces-commitment-to-teacher-raises.
7. “Outreach & Advocacy.” Florida Policy Institute. Accessed October 31, 2019. https://www.floridapolicy.org/outreach-advocacy.
8. “Sadaf Knight.” Florida Policy Institute. Accessed October 31, 2019. https://www.floridapolicy.org/author/sadaf-knight, https://www.linkedin.com/in/sadafknight/.
9. Eavy, Mareya, LinkedIn.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mireya-eavey-3297347/.