There is an essential piece in today’s Washington Post about the ReOpen America campaign, Inside the conservative networks backing anti-quarantine protests and no quote is more important for Massachusetts than this one from Professor Robert Brulle, who exposed the Koch Brothers funding of the climate denial industry:
“The involvement of the Koch institutional apparatus in groups supporting these protests is clear to me,” said Robert J. Brulle, a sociologist at Drexel University whose research has focused on climate lobbying. “The presence of allies on the board usually means that they are deeply engaged in the organization and most likely a funder.”
)The Post is reporting that Americans for Prosperity, Koch’s primary political organization, is not involved. But then, dark money.)
Why important for Massachusetts? Because Charles Koch appears to be growing his presence in Massachusetts through organizations like Pioneer Institute, Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, National Parents Union, and Massachusetts Parents United.
“The presence of allies on the board usually means that they are deeply engaged in the organization and most likely a funder.” Yes. And Charles has a proxy named Gerard Robinson sitting on the board of National Parents Union:
Robinson is now showing up on Pioneer Institute podcasts too: 
Almost every year David Koch has been one of Pioneer Institute’s biggest donors, over $100,000 each year. David passed away last year but his foundations could give in perpetuity. Is Charles dealing himself in too?
From Pioneer’s 2017 annual report:
Remember, the president of both National Parents Union and Massachusetts Parents United is Keri Rodrigues. The Walton family is a major funder of NPU and MPU, is Koch inching in as well? (Local money into MPU comes from Barr Foundation, Longfield Foundation, Boston Foundation, Mifflin Foundation, and others. Many tied to dark money in 2016 charter schools ballot question).
Also per the Washington Post, reporting on 2018 a Koch seminar: “’The lowest hanging fruit for policy change in the United States today is K-12,’ said Stacy Hock, a major Koch donor.” Charles is dealing himself into K-12.
What about Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance? MFA has been represented in litigation by the Goldwater Institute and Institute for Free Speech (also tied in with Pioneer). Both legal shops have ties to Koch and the far right Mercer Family. Robert Mercer is also funding the ReOpen Movement. MassFiscal is promoting a reopen in the state (using a Pioneer report) even as Governor Baker is cautioning we are in the midst of a surge of coronavirus.
Koch has also sponsored stories in The Boston Globe, as I wrote in UnKoch My Boston Globe.
Let’s end with another quote from Professor Brulle: “These are extreme right-wing efforts to delegitimize government. It’s an anti-government crusade.”
June 1, 2020 Addendum: Today the Fiscal Alliance Foundation, th3 501c3 allied with the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, announced a lawsuit against Governor Baker to reopen Massachusetts. The suit is to be brought by New Civil Liberties Alliance. NCLA was founded in 2017 with 1 $1 million grant from the Charles Koch Foundation.
“The presence of allies on the board usually means that they are deeply engaged in the organization and most likely a funder.”–Robert J. Brulle.
Full disclosure: as an educator in the UMass system, I am a union member. I write about oligarchy and democracy.]