Nevada Policy Research Institute

The Nevada Policy Research Institute is an affiliate member of the State Policy Network, a coalition of free-market state-level policy organizations. ³ While NPRI is non-partisan, members of its staff have affiliations with the Republican Party.

Activity

The Nevada Policy Research Institute is a non-partisan public policy think tank that promotes policy based on the principles of limited government, individual liberty, and free enterprise. NPRI’s main areas of research and policy recommendations are educational reform, taxation, worker freedom, state budgetary concerns, and transparency in government. ¹

NPRI supports education reform based on school choice policy, including educational savings accounts and micro-schooling. ⁴ NPRI advocates against raising taxes in Nevada to support public education, noting that a 2015 tax hike did not increase academic performance. NPRI claims the fault lies in the lack of accountability in local school districts and that school choice programs, where parents can opt to change school districts, lead to more accountability and better academic performance. ⁵

NPRI hosts a website where it publishes government employee compensation and retirement data. ⁶ NPRI claims that while laws are in place to provide public access to government records, there are no penalties for those that do not follow this law. In 2018, NPRI sued the Clark County School District (CCSD) after it refused to disclose emails needed in a case involving a CCSD employee’s unlawful termination. ⁷

NPRI advocates for worker freedom and claims that deducting union dues from government employees’ paychecks is unconstitutional. NPRI goes on to say that dues should only be deducted from workers who have “affirmatively consented to waiving their First Amendment rights,” as affirmed by the 2018 Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. AFSCME. ⁸ NPRI has run several campaigns to assist Nevada teachers in opting out of union membership and created National Employee Freedom Week (NEFW) to further those kinds of campaigns. NEFW currently maintains a coalition membership of over 100 national and state-based groups, including the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the Buckeye Institute, and the Heritage Foundation. ⁹

Funding

The Nevada Policy Research Institute receives donations from individuals, businesses, foundations, and family trusts. ¹ Notable donations have come from organizations like the Charles Koch Institute,¹⁰ the State Policy Network,¹¹ and the Americans for Prosperity Foundation. ¹²

People

John Tsarpalas is the president of the Nevada Policy Research Institute. Tsarpalas formerly sat on the State Central Committee of the Illinois Libertarian Party and worked as executive director of the Illinois Republican Party and as president of the Sam Adams Alliance. Tsarpalas is the former chair of the board of the Haym Salomon Center, was the founder of the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, and was previously involved with Think Freely Media. ¹³

Michael Schaus serves as the communications director at NPRI and as a policy advisor for the Heartland Institute. ¹⁴

Kelly Smith serves as the development director at NPRI. Smith formerly worked as vice president of strategic partners for the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, director of development for the Yankee Institute, field representative for former U.S. Representative John Boehner (R-OH), and development associate for the Ohio Republican Party. ¹⁵

Megan Heryet serves as the development director for Transparent California for NPRI. Heryet previously served as the advancement director for Freedom Foundation. ¹⁶

Board of Directors

Ranson Webster serves as chair of the board of NPRI, chair of the Financial Advisory Board for the city of Reno, and as the Governor’s appointee for the Nevada Commission on Education Technology. ¹⁷

Ben Farahi serves on the board of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy. Farahi formerly served as a director of the United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra. ¹⁸

David Geddes serves on the board of the Community Foundation of Western Nevada. ¹⁹

Steve Hardy is a Club 200 member of the Cato Institute. ²⁰

Judy Cresanta is the founder of NPRI and served as its CEO and president until 2001. Cresanta formerly served on the board of the State Policy Network. ²¹