Michael Cass

mcass@tennessean.com

Fresh on the heels of news that the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity spent some $500,000 to influence the debate about Common Core in Tennessee, a liberal think tank has criticized the organization's efforts to "rig the system" on other local issues, including a Nashville mass transit plan.

Americans for Prosperity's Tennessee branch played a role in slowing down Mayor Karl Dean's bus rapid transit proposal, the Amp, at the state legislature last spring. "Kochonomics: Rigging the System at the Local Level," the new report by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, revisits that episode and a few others from around the country.

The report says the Amp "lost its political juice and never made it to the drawing board, thanks to the Koch brothers."

"Koch involvement in the Nashville mass transit proposal indicates the extent to which the billionaire brothers will protect their bottom line, even if it pits them against conventional business interests," it says.

Andrew Ogles, Americans for Prosperity's state director, said in March that jurisdiction over the Amp decision wasn't as clear-cut as the project's supporters liked to say.

"They're trying to frame it as a local issue, but it's a local issue that requires state and federal dollars," he said. "Tennessee has 95 counties, all of whom are vying for those transportation dollars."