“We who live in free market societies believe that growth and prosperity, and ultimately human fulfillment, are created from the bottom up, not the government down.”
— President Ronald Reagan
When the Washington Policy Center speaks, people listen. As the premier conservative think tank for public policy in our state, the WPC “promotes sound public policy based on free-market solutions. Our mission is to improve the lives of Washingtonians by promoting high-quality, non-partisan, evidence-based research to advance policy solutions for a better Washington state.” In short, they have brain power; in addition, they are well-financed, and they run a world-class organization of ideas.
They explain in more detail:
Headquartered in Seattle with satellite offices and full-time staff in Olympia and Eastern Washington, Washington Policy Center publishes studies, sponsors events and conferences, and educates citizens on the vital public policy issues facing our region. WPC has an annual budget of more than $5 million and a full-time staff of 25. Broadcast, print, and online media throughout Washington and across the nation cover WPC’s work regularly and seek out its policy experts for analysis and commentary. In addition, lawmakers routinely invite WPC to testify before legislative committees.
WPC is an affiliate of the larger State Policy Network, which is a group of conservative organizations around the nation, and the work they offer citizens is first-rate.
The Research Team
The central focus of WPC is careful thinking. Its outstanding research team is structured in a way so that each scholar specializes in a particular topic. Washington Policy Center focuses on eight core areas of public policy:
- Agriculture
- Education
- Environment
- Government Reform
- Health Care
- Small Business
- Transportation
- Worker Rights
During the Legislative Session, each researcher will oversee a dozen bills or so, and then testify or work behind the scenes with legislators to craft the policy correctly. As WPC says: “We believe ideas, supported by sound research and promoted through publications, conferences, and the media, over time, create an environment in which policymakers and citizens make sound public policy decisions.”
FPIW is especially delighted to work closely with Paul Guppy, WPC’s Senior Researcher. We strategize and gain insights from his wisdom. Each week, Paul offers a weekly video which we are proud to share on our platforms. The picture below is Brad Payne, President of FPIW Action, with Paul Guppy.
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Events
FPIW staff very much enjoys attending the WPC Annual Dinner. Their Annual Dinners attract some of the most powerful and influential people in our nation as keynote speakers.
Our state is home to some of the world’s most important businesses. At one event, President of Microsoft Brad Smith gave a speech explaining why lower taxation will strengthen businesses, employees, and Washington State at large:
Other prominent WPC speakers are pictured below, such as Newt Gingrich, former US Speaker of the House of Representatives; Victor Davis Hanson of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University; Tulsi Gabbard, former US Director of National Intelligence; (second row) Ben Carson, former Secretary of HUD; Dennis Prager, author and talk show host; and Seth Dillon of the Babylon Bee.
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Why Free Markets Are Pro-Family
At their 2025 event, Arthur Brooks of Harvard University (see picture below) was the keynote WPC speaker. In his research, he points out: “Conservatives define success by how few people need help from the government, not by how many people we can enroll in government programs.” That’s a key point — in fact, it is a moral, pro-family point that undergirds the work of WPC.
WPC upholds the efficiency and the wealth-producing benefits of free markets, yes, but the case for capitalism is also rooted in meeting the needs of customers and voluntary exchange — not forced redistribution by socialism. Moreover, one by-product of both free markets and smaller government means helping families: Lower taxes and less business regulation by government logically increases the attractiveness of an area to businesses, and thus jobs, and thus supporting a family. As Dennis Prager, another WPC keynote speaker, writes:
The higher the tax rate, the lower the charity rate. This is universally true. The more people give to the state, the less they give to their neighbor — and even to members of their family — in need. . . . [Furthermore,] the higher the taxes, the less people are inclined to work hard. Why should they? At a given point, people just conclude that work is for suckers.
High taxes can be a real threat not only to businesses, but also to what a mom and a dad can provide for their own children, as well as the Church and their own neighbors. Properly understood, then, WPC fights for families indirectly by defending free markets, and FPIW is proud to join together and advance the cause. As we write in our Policy Booklet: “The government, when acting rightly, bears a responsibility to ensure fair and safe working conditions and preventing worker exploitation. It should also encourage enterprise and creativity by safeguarding economic freedom and rewarding diligence and innovation.”
Champions of the Free Market
Any society has a fundamental choice: In whom do we trust more: free markets and the innovations of entrepreneurs and business people; or government force and the regulations of bureaucrats? In short, capitalism or socialism? The Left fears “Big Business,” and the Right fears “Big Government”. At FPIW, we suggest that world history demonstrates the overwhelming benefits of capitalism and free markets. In that spirit, the Washington Policy Center proudly upholds the virtues, freedom, and wealth of capitalism over the destruction, death, and poverty of socialism’s clear track record. Our state and nation will be better off the more it listens to the scholars — such as “The Champions of the Free Market” at WPC — who show the way to “improving lives through market solutions”.
You can follow and support the work of the Washington Policy Center here: X, Facebook, and YouTube.