The Pelican Institute for Public Policy is a non-partisan public policy think tank that promotes free enterprise, limited government, and individual liberty at the state level in Louisiana. ¹ The Pelican Institute’s research and analysis supports reforming Louisiana’s government, expanding school choice programs, lowering taxes, and reforming Medicaid. ²

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

Activity

Advocacy

The Pelican Institute’s research and analysis supports reforming Louisiana’s government, expanding school choice programs, lowering taxes, and reforming Louisiana’s Medicaid and criminal justice systems. ⁴

After the 2018 South Dakota v. Wayfair decision enabled the collection of out-of-state sales tax, the Pelican Institute partnered with the National Taxpayers Union Foundation to publish a paper outlining their position for a fundamental reformation of the sales tax infrastructure in Louisiana, which includes becoming of member of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA) and lowering tax rates. ⁵

Ballot Measures

In 2020, the Pelican Institute supported the unsuccessful Louisiana Amendment 4, the Expenditures Limit Growth Formula Amendment, which would have limited state government spending. Amendment 4 also garnered support from the Louisiana Republican Party, the Louisiana House Republican Caucus, and the conservative group, Louisiana Family Forum. ⁶

Litigation

The Pelican Center for Justice supports pro-freedom litigation and in 2019 collaborated with the Goldwater Institute in the case of Boudreaux vs. Louisiana State Bar Association. The case claims that the requirement to join and pay dues to this bar association infringes on Boudreaux’s First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and association, as membership supports the bar association’s political advocacy. The case goes on to claim that bar associations like this deny individuals the right “not to speak, not to associate with a group against their will, and not to pay for others’ political advocacy.” ⁷

Leadership Academy

The Pelican Leadership Academy is a nine-month program providing training in free-market public policy, leadership and ethics, and the campaign and legislative process. The program aims to build and strengthen a network of professionals in both the public and private sectors that will support free-market ideals and policies. ⁸

Funding

The Pelican Institute is funded by donations from individuals, businesses, and other organizations. Notable donations have come from Donors Capital Fund,⁹ the Coalition for Public Safety, ¹⁰ and the State Policy Network (SPN). ¹¹

People

Daniel Erspamer serves as CEO and member of the board of the Pelican Institute. Erspamer formerly served as vice president for strategic partnerships at State Policy Network, director of development at Americans for Prosperity, and as a development associate at the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation. ¹²

Aly Rau serves as chief of staff for the Pelican Institute and as the leader of the New Orleans chapter of America’s Future Foundation. Rau formerly served as finance director for Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser (R-LA). ¹³

John Kay serves as the vice president of advocacy for the Pelican Institute. Kay formerly served as state director for Americans for Prosperity and as political director for the Alabama Republican Party. ¹⁴

Ethan Melancon serves as the Pelican Institute’s education policy director and previously served as the policy and research project manager at the Baton Rouge Area Chamber. ¹⁵

Eric Peterson serves as the director of policy for the Pelican Institute and formerly worked on state policy for Americans for Prosperity and the Institute for Free Speech. ¹⁶

Marcus Maldonado serves as a development associate with the Pelican Institute. Maldonado formerly served as the Louisiana state chair of Young Americans for Liberty, as a regional director for Students for Liberty, and founded the Wave Center for Policy and Enterprise at Tulane University. ¹⁷

Chris Jacobs is a senior fellow at the Pelican Institute. Jacobs formerly worked as policy director for America Next, senior policy analyst for the Heritage Foundation, and policy advisor for the House Republican Conference. ¹⁸

Margaret Mire is a senior fellow at the Pelican Institute and a state affairs manager at Americans for Tax Reform. ¹⁹

Kevin Kane founded the Pelican Institute in 2008 and worked as its president until his death in 2016. ²⁰

Board of Directors

Chair of the board Stephen Gele serves on the Orleans Parish Republican Executive Committee and as secretary of GNOR PAC. Gele formerly served on the board of the Greater New Orleans Republicans and as general counsel for the Young Republican National Federation. ²¹

Abhay Patel ran for U.S. Senate as a Republican candidate from Louisiana in 2016. ²²

1. “Our Story.” Pelican Institute, 2019. Accessed November 25, 2020. https://pelicaninstitute.org/our_story-2/.
2. “Issues.” Pelican Institute, 2019. Accessed November 25, 2020. https://pelicaninstitute.org/issues/.
3. “The Network: Lousiana.” State Policy Network, 2020. Accessed November 21, 2020. https://spn.org/directory/#LA.
4. “Issues.” Pelican Institute, 2019. Accessed November 25, 2020. https://pelicaninstitute.org/issues/.
5. Moylan, Andrew, Wilford, Andrew, and Peterson, Eric. “Post-Wayfair Sales Tax Reform in Louisiana.” Pelican Institute. Accessed November 25, 2020. https://pelicaninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Post-Wayfair-Sales-Tax-Reform-in-LA.pdf.
6. “Constitutional Amendment 4 Earns Widespread Endorsements.” Pelican Institute, October 30, 2020. Accessed November 25, 2020. https://pelicaninstitute.org/blog/constitutional-amendment-4-earns-widespread-endorsements/.
7. Huebert, Jacob, Baehr, James, and Ciolino, Dane S. “Louisiana Shouldn’t Force Its Lawyers to Pay for Speech They Don’t Support.” Pelican Institute, August 1, 2019. Accessed November 29, 2020. https://pelicaninstitute.org/blog/louisiana-shouldnt-force-its-lawyers-to-pay-for-speech-they-dont-support/.
8. “Pelican Leadership Academy.” Pelican Institute, 2019. Accessed November 25, 2020. https://pelicaninstitute.org/pelican-leadership-academy/.
9. Donors Capital Fund, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990), 2010-2015, Schedule I, Part II.
10. Coalition for Public Safety, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990), 2016 and 2017, Schedule I, Part II.
11. State Policy Network, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990), 2014, Schedule I, Part II.
12. “Daniel Erspamer.” LinkedIn, 2020. Accessed November 25, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-erspamer-8a5a365/.
13. “Our Story.” Pelican Institute, 2019. Accessed November 25, 2020. https://pelicaninstitute.org/our_story-2/.
14. “Our Story.” Pelican Institute, 2019. Accessed November 25, 2020. https://pelicaninstitute.org/our_story-2/.
15. “Our Story.” Pelican Institute, 2019. Accessed November 25, 2020. https://pelicaninstitute.org/our_story-2/.
16. “Our Story.” Pelican Institute, 2019. Accessed November 25, 2020. https://pelicaninstitute.org/our_story-2/.
17. “Our Story.” Pelican Institute, 2019. Accessed November 25, 2020. https://pelicaninstitute.org/our_story-2/.
18. “Our Story.” Pelican Institute, 2019. Accessed November 25, 2020. https://pelicaninstitute.org/our_story-2/.
19. “Our Story.” Pelican Institute, 2019. Accessed November 25, 2020. https://pelicaninstitute.org/our_story-2/.
20. “Our Story.” Pelican Institute, 2019. Accessed November 25, 2020. https://pelicaninstitute.org/our_story-2/.
21. “Stephen Gele.” LinkedIn, 2020. Accessed November 25, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenmgele/.
22. “Abhay Patel.” Ballotpedia. Accessed November 29, 2020. https://ballotpedia.org/Abhay_Patel.