David and Ann Brown Distinguished Fellow

Trent England is the David and Ann Brown Distinguished Fellow at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, where he previously served as executive vice president. He is also the founder and executive director of Save Our States, which educates Americans about the importance of the Electoral College. England is a producer of the feature-length documentary “Safeguard: An Electoral College Story.” He has appeared three times on Fox & Friends and is a frequent guest on media programs from coast to coast. He is the author of Why We Must Defend the Electoral College and a contributor to The Heritage Guide to the Constitution and One Nation Under Arrest: How Crazy Laws, Rogue Prosecutors, and Activist Judges Threaten Your Liberty. His writing has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Times, Hillsdale College's Imprimis speech digest, and other publications. Trent formerly hosted morning drive-time radio in Oklahoma City and has filled for various radio hosts including Ben Shapiro. A former legal policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation, he holds a law degree from The George Mason University School of Law and a bachelor of arts in government from Claremont McKenna College.

David and Ann Brown Distinguished Fellow

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Maine's National Popular Vote bill (LD 56) was brought to the House floor and solidly defeated on Tuesday, February 2, 2010. The vote was 95 against and only 50 for the bill. The floor action came just two weeks after the Save Our States visit to Augusta.

Much of the credit for this victory goes to Rep. Herb Adams of Portland. An instructor in government and civics at the University of Southern Maine, Rep. Adams bucked his Democratic Party leadership but brought nearly half his caucus with him after two and a half hours of floor debate. No Republicans voted for the NPV bill.

The measure has been introduced at least once in the last five years in all fifty states, but has been enacted in only five. Efforts to repeal the measure are underway in at least two of those states.

Preliminary reports indicated that NPV hired at least three lobbyists in Augusta and may have spent as much as $45,000 lobbying Maine legislators. (almost $1,000 per vote).

Save Our States visited Maine for one day, educating legislators, reporters, and citizen activists about the importance of preserving federalism and the risks inherent in NPV. With the great help of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, Senator Carol Weston, and Eagle Forum's Wendy Pelletier, Save Our States was able to put the right information into the right hands in Augusta.

Up against a team of NPV hired guns, good arguments won the day.

David and Ann Brown Distinguished Fellow

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