Compact for America Educational Foundation Inc
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Compact for a Balanced Budget
Compacts harness the sovereign power of the states by contractually binding them to a common goal and enabling them to act as a unified body. Because strength exists in numbers, compacts can act as a force multiplier for public policies that leverage principles of federalism to enforce limited government. The Compact for a Balanced Budget is an interstate agreement that advances, proposes and ratifies a federal Balanced Budget Amendment in a single state legislative bill, which is activated by a single congressional resolution.
In essence, the Compact pre-commits 38 states (the ratification number) to the entire constitutional amendment process in advance, so that a specific, pre-drafted federal Balanced Budget Amendment is voted up or down within 24 hours at the convention it organizes. The Compact’s amendment process is set in motion by a single congressional resolution, which can be passed with simple majorities and no presidential signature. The congressional resolution both calls the 24 hour convention contemplated by the Compact and pre-selects legislative ratification, avoiding a second trip to Congress. The Compact's “turn-key” approach eliminates any possibility of a “runaway convention.” It prohibits member states from expanding the scope of the convention, violating the convention rules, or ratifying anything other than the contemplated amendment.
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Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The goals of the organization's first initiative, the Compact for a Balanced Budget, is to educate the states on the targeted us of their power under Article V of the U.S. Constitution to both propose and ratify amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The Founders considered this power critical in the establishment of checks and balances within the various branches of the federal government. The Founders envisioned that the states would likely only use this power when necessary structural changes to the Constitution were identified and the Congress was either unable or unwilling to propose the required amendment under the alternate power held by Congress to propose amendments to the states.
The education process would include vetting and drafting the necessary interstate compact agreement among the states that would control the process, vetting and drafting the text of the proposed amendment, vetting and drafting the text of the activating congressional resolution, helping to identify sponsors in the various legislatures the would propose entry into the Compact by the various states, educated members of the various state legislatures as to how the amendment process would work in conjunction with an interstate compact, providing expert testimony before the various state legislative committees as the various bills are considered, incorporating rules into the Compact that would control the convention process and logistics, and educating the members of Congress on the need for the activating congressional resolution.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The strategies to make this happen are the following:
a. Develop a world-class team of experts to provide the necessary educational component
b. Develop an organizational structure that is nimble and can quickly respond to requests by the various state legislatures for assistance.
c. Minimize administrative burdens by utilizing virtual offices across the country.
d. Develop a reputation as the "go-to" organization when it comes to multi-state approaches to restoring the proper role of the states in the Constitution's balance of federalism.
e. Locate and develop long-term relationships with "patriots of means" who can provide the funding necessary for this national effort.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
a. The Foundation has developed an Executive Staff, Council of Scholars and Advisory Council of premiere experts across the nation. The experts are available in person, by phone, and through social media to provide education on the Compact for a Balance Budget Amendment.
b. Because of the unique aspect of the Compact for a Balanced Budget initiative, the Foundation is able to operate without employees. Instead, the expertise of the Executive Staff and key scholars is provided through short-term consulting contracts. This enables the Foundation to quickly expand or contract its operations as the need arises. This makes the Foundation unique among the state and national think-tanks.
c. In conjunction with these consulting contracts, the Foundation has indeed been able to operate across the country using the virtual offices of the various consultants.
d. The reputation of the Foundation as the “go-to" entity for interstate compacts that address federalism continues to grow as the Foundation has received numerous requests from state legislators, state-based think-tanks, national organizations, and members of Congress to provide further education and assistance on the Compact for a Balanced Budget and related issues.
e. The Executive Staff of the Foundation have made it a top priority to develop relationships with long-term donors and investors. Developing and nurturing such relationships is of paramount importance to the success of the initiative.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
As of September 30, 2015:
a. Council of Scholars and Advisory Council members - premiere experts on board, with more to follow
b. Member states: 4 obtained, 34 more required
c. Big push will be made during the 2016 state legislative sessions to have additional states join the Compact
d. Congressional resolution: filed in House and under consideration, companion Senate legislation in progress, target date for passage is fall of 2015 in conjunction with the upcoming Congressional budget and debt limit debates.
e. Required convention: pending additional member states and congressional activating resolution
f. Funding - definitely need to find additional "patriots of means" to support the effort financially.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Compact for America Educational Foundation Inc
Board of directorsas of 07/08/2019
Thomas Patterson
Past chair of the Goldwater Institute, former state legislator, and retired emergency room physician
Term: 2014 - 2016
Kevin R.C. Gutzman
Western Connecticut State University
Harold R. DeMoss, III
Compact for America Educational Foundation, Inc.
Lawrence W. Reed
Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes