President Barack Obama’s former liaison to the states will launch a major new state-focused organization called the State Innovation Exchange – or SiX for short – before donors on Friday at the annual winter meeting of the Democracy Alliance liberal funding club.
SiX’s goal is an ambitious one: to compete with a well-financed network of conservative groups – including the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC – that for years have dominated state policy battles, advancing pro-business, anti-regulation bills in state after state.
SiX ultimately plans to raise as much as $10 million a year to boost progressive state lawmakers and their causes — partly by drafting model legislation in state capitols to increase environmental protections, expand voting rights, and raise the minimum wage – while also using bare-knuckle tactics like opposition research and video tracking to derail Republicans and their initiatives.
“Progressives are looking around to figure out where to go to push back, and there has not been a vehicle to do that at the state level – it’s the biggest missing piece in the progressive infrastructure,” said Nick Rathod, a career Democratic operative who started and will run SiX.
Rathod – who served as Obama’s liaison to state officials and directed state campaigns for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s gun safety group – has his work cut out for him.
After Tuesday’s elections, during which Republicans netted more than 300 seats, the GOP had full control of at least 29 state legislatures – its biggest edge since the 1920s.
