The Buckeye Institute does their best to hide their roots, how they are funded, and what their true intentions are. They are not who they say they are.

Learn The Truth

In October 2003, the Columbus Dispatch “banned” the Buckeye Institute and announced that it would no longer publish op-eds bearing the Institute or its scholars’ names after it was discovered that Buckeye Director Joshua Hall plagiarized part of a recently published opinion piece.

In 2011, the Buckeye Institute engaged in extensive lobbying activity in support of Senate Bill 5, which sought to significantly reduce collective bargaining rights. In addition to encouraging voters to contact their Senators and advocate for the legislation’s approval, the Buckeye Institute joined with Americans for Prosperity to support the bill when it faced a referendum. This is in conflict with their 501(C)(3) status which specifies that an organization is considered to be lobbying “if it contacts, or urges the public to contact, members or employees of a legislative body for the purpose of proposing, supporting, or opposing legislation. . .”. The Buckeye Institute has done this extensively and has not registered lobbying activity at the state or federal level.

The Buckeye Institute released reports in 2010 blaming the “gold-plated compensation of state workers” for the state’s deficit, and called for a significant scale back. Just six months later, they remained silent when Ohio Governor John Kasich increased his personal staff’s salaries—many of whom had already been making more than $100,000 annually—by  as much as $20,000 – $50,000 each.

Buckeye Institute Fellow Ken Blackwell, former Secretary of State, was sued several times in court for voter suppression efforts. Then in 2008 the Buckeye Institute sued the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) under a racketeering law, claiming that ACORN had registered potential voters multiple times in Ohio and other states and that this pattern of corrupt voter registration activity amounts to organized crime.

The Buckeye Institute has consistently used litigation as a weapon. The Buckeye Institute and its former Board Chair Greg Lashutka have initiated nearly 40 cases in efforts to attack everything from voter registration rights to disability rights.