Competitive Enterprise Institute
| Competitive Enterprise Institute | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Type: | 501(c)(3) |
| Top official: | Kent Lassman, president and CEO |
| Founder(s): | Fred L. Smith, Jr. |
| Year founded: | 1984 |
| Website: | Official website |
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Washington, D.C. The libertarian think tank advocates free enterprise and limited government.
Background
The Competitive Enterprise Institute was founded in 1984 by Fred L. Smith, Jr. Smith is a former policy analyst with the Environmental Protection Agency and worked as the director of government relations for the Council for a Competitive Economy. He served as CEI's president from 1984 until 2013.[1]
According to CEI's website, the group's mission is to "reform America’s unaccountable regulatory state. We develop and advocate policies to eliminate harmful bureaucratic controls so people can live in a freer, healthier, and more prosperous nation."[2]
In 2020, the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program at the University of Pennsylvania ranked CEI number 67 on its list of the top 100 think tanks in the United States.[3]
Leadership
As of November 2025, Kent Lassman was the president and CEO of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.[4]
According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute's website, the following individuals were members of the organization's board of directors, as of November 2025:[4]
- Richard Tren, Chairman
- Sarah Atkins
- Kristina Crane
- Kent Lassman
- Dana Modzelewski
- Geoffrey Pohanka
- Roger Ream
- Fran Smith
- David M. Stover
- Cathy Windels
- Todd Zywicki
Work and activities
The Competitive Enterprise Institute conducts research and produces policy papers on a range of issues related to free enterprise and limited government.[2] The institute also produces newsletters, a podcast, and a blog related to its work.[5][6]
Research
According to CEI's website, the group conducts research in the following policy areas: capitalism, deregulation, law and litigation, government affairs, energy and environment, and innovation.[2]
CEI experts provide testimony to Congress on a range of issue areas. The group also sends letters lobbying stakeholders, provides comments on pending regulatory issues, and holds events on public policy matters.[7][8][9][10]
In 2009, Slate chronicled the organization's relationship to environmental issues, writing that CEI was "one of the first conservative think tanks to go on the offensive on the environment. It attacked the Endangered Species Act and wilderness protection laws for trampling private property rights. By the mid-1990s, it refocused on global warming."[11]
Litigation activities
According to CEI's website, the group "initiates lawsuits and files amicus briefs that challenge the constitutionality of dubious statutes and the legality of onerous regulations."[2]
Affordable Care Act lawsuit
- See also: King v. Burwell
The CEI coordinated the 2015 lawsuit King v. Burwell, which challenged the Affordable Care Act. The lawsuit challenged "the legality of an IRS regulation that made federal subsidies available on HealthCare.gov, the federal health insurance exchange, in addition to state-based exchanges explicitly mentioned in the law," according to National Review.[12] The U.S. Supreme Court ruled to maintain the Affordable Care Act as it was written. Writing the opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts concluded, "Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them. If at all possible, we must interpret the Act in a way that is consistent with the former, and avoids the latter."[13]
Notable endorsements
This section displays endorsements this organization made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope. Know of one we missed? Click here to let us know.
Finances
The following is a breakdown of the Competitive Enterprise Institute's revenues and expenses for the 2016 to 2023 fiscal years, according to documents submitted to the Internal Revenue Service.
| Tax Year | Total Revenue | Total Expenses |
|---|---|---|
| 2023[14] | $10,125,447 | $8,429,275 |
| 2022[14] | $7,758,776 | $6,681,965 |
| 2021[15] | $6,735,306 | $6,582,265 |
| 2020[15] | $6,805,470 | $6,170,171 |
| 2019[16] | $7,118,616 | $6,213,282 |
| 2018[16] | $6,397,876 | $6,797,063 |
| 2017[17] | $7,287,515 | $8,354,004 |
| 2016[18] | $7,703,763 | $7,811,133 |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Competitive Enterprise Institute'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
- Competitive Enterprise Institute website
- Competitive Enterprise Institute on Twitter
- Competitive Enterprise Institute on Facebook
Footnotes
- ↑ Competitive Enterprise Institute, "Fred L. Smith, Jr.," accessed November 19, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Competitive Enterprise Institute, "About," accessed November 19, 2025
- ↑ University of Pennsylvania Libraries, "Public Policy Research Think Tanks: Top Think Tanks - US," accessed November 19, 2025
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Competitive Enterprise Institute, "Our Team," accessed November 19, 2025
- ↑ Competitive Enterprise Institute, "Podcasts," accessed November 19, 2025
- ↑ Competitive Enterprise Institute, "Blog," accessed November 19, 2025
- ↑ Competitive Enterprise Institute, "Congressional Testimonies," accessed November 19, 2025
- ↑ Competitive Enterprise Institute, "Regulatory Comments," accessed November 19, 2025
- ↑ Competitive Enterprise Institute, "Coalition Letters," accessed November 19, 2025
- ↑ Competitive Enterprise Institute, "Events," accessed November 19, 2025
- ↑ Slate, "About Climate Change: Never Mind," June 12, 2009
- ↑ National Review, "Competitive Enterprise Institute Statement on King v. Burwell Decision," June 25, 2015
- ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "King v. Burwell," accessed November 19, 2025
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Internal Revenue Service , "Competitive Enterprise Institute 2023 990 Form," accessed November 19, 2025
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Internal Revenue Service , "Competitive Enterprise Institute 2021 990 Form," accessed November 19, 2025
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Internal Revenue Service, "Competitive Enterprise Institute 2019 990 Form," accessed November 19, 2025
- ↑ Internal Revenue Service, "Competitive Enterprise Institute 2017 990 Form," accessed November 19, 2025
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedsixteen
| |||||||
