The 2026 SPN Annual Meeting: A Diary

On August 25th and 26th, many on the Palmetto Promise team attended the State Policy Network (SPN) Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida. There, policy organizations from across the United States gathered to discuss freedom, federalism, and imminent threats to each. Organizations discussed freedom wins for their states on matters including education, energy, taxation, and regulation. Palmetto Promise President Wendy Damron had the opportunity to deliver a keynote speech discussing our successes with ESAs and school choice. Throughout the conference, my primary goal was to attend as many of the multitude of breakout sessions as I could, particularly those which covered topics that are part of our Palmetto Promise’s Freedom Agenda. 

Day 1

Tuesday, August 25th began with an early breakfast on the mission of the State Policy Network and a keynote speech by Palmetto Promise’s own Wendy Damron about our education freedom work in South Carolina. Organizations from across the United States learned about our sustained advocacy and defense of the Education Scholarship Account (ESA) concept, which began in 2015. Additionally, Wendy touched on our advocacy for the ESTF program and the newly launched School Choice Coalition. 

After the keynote, I had the opportunity to attend a variety of roundtables which primarily covered energy topics. One key takeaway from these first sessions was that greater power generation leads to more prosperity.  Additional generation equates to lower utility rates and the potential for larger consumers to enter regions and generate additional wealth in the form of manufacturing plants and, in some circumstances, data centers. Government regulation was cited as a major inhibitor to building additional production because of licensing and zoning issues.  

Institutional attacks via ESG were also discussed. The ESG agenda advocates for the replacement of current power generation sources with greener methods, in spite of inefficiencies, greater costs to consumers, or their actual “green-ness.” I learned that certain entities have attempted to sue utility companies on the grounds of nuisance related to production, hampering the ability to expand generation. Proposed regulations in states such as California were also found to have effects that would essentially force compliance, even across state lines. These attacks hamper the prosperity of everyday Americans by driving up electric bills and preventing industrial growth. 

Day 2

The second day of the conference began with a variety of break-out breakfasts. Government assistance program abuse was the topic of my chosen session. Welfare, whilst established with the noble goal of helping people get back on their feet, has unfortunately become a way of life for some of our citizens. Fraudulent welfare claims channel resources and attention away from those who need it most, and rob taxpayers in the process. A provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) will require states to audit their enrollment systems and make work a requirement for eligibility for certain individuals. Additionally, depending on the level of fraud (or “errors”), states will be required to pay a portion back to the federal government each year. Ultimately, these crackdowns will allow taxpayer-funded resources to be more effectively utilized. 

Energy was again the topic of the next few sessions addressing why energy costs are rising across the country. One common trend across the U.S. is that energy prices are increasing faster in states with a utility monopoly, such as South Carolina. In many cases, these utilities are increasing rates to meet the rising costs of maintaining aging or mothballed power plants (in the case of South Carolina: paying off the debt generated by the failed Santee Cooper expansion). 

Takeaways 

The 2026 SPN Annual meeting was a great opportunity for me to meet people from across the nation working to unleash freedom in their states. Looking at the successes and failures of policies being implemented elsewhere, we at Palmetto Promise are better equipped to address the most pressing Freedom Agenda topics in South Carolina, while also being able to tell our sucess stories to others.

Stay tuned. In the coming weeks, we will be passing along to you a little more of what we learned at SPNAM 2026.