FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 16, 2015
FACT Praises Creation of Levin Center at Wayne State Law School
Center Will Train Future Leaders on Rigors of Oversight
Washington – The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition today praised the news that former Senator Carl Levin’s (D-MI) work on tax avoidance, transparency, and other issues will continue with the formation of the Levin Center at the Wayne State University Law School.
The new Levin Center will educate future lawyers, business leaders, legislators and public servants on effective oversight of both public and private institutions. The Center aims to instill in policymakers the need for vigilant government oversight of dubious practices in business and government and to teach them how to utilize investigative tools to achieve good public policy. Elise Bean and Linda Gustitus, former staff directors to Levin’s Senate oversight committees, are interim directors.
The Center will also offer academic courses at the university, and later offer workshops and training sessions for federal, state, local and tribal leaders in both Washington and Detroit. Levin will be teaching a class in the fall on tax policy, its effects on society, and how tax avoidance has impacted the income tax system.
“Anyone who thought that the heat was off when Senator Levin left office has another thing coming,” said Rebecca Wilkins, executive director of the FACT Coalition. “That the Senator remains as focused and engaged as ever on offshore tax avoidance, transparency, and other vital issues, and plans to teach the leaders of tomorrow to do the same, gives us a renewed and powerful hope for real progress in the future.”
“Now, more than ever, America needs a government that works for working people,” said Katherine McFate, President and CEO, Center for Effective Government. “The Levin Institute will create a corps of civil servants committed to ensuring that government serves the needs and priorities of the American people – as effectively and transparently as possible.”
###
Media Contact:
Nick Jacobs
FACT Coalition
202-841-1466
___________
Founded in 2011, the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition unites civil society representatives from small business, labor, government watchdog, faith-based, human rights, anti-corruption, public-interest, and international development organizations. We seek an honest and fair corporate tax code, greater transparency in corporate ownership and operations, and commonsense policies to combat the facilitation of money laundering and other criminal activity by the legitimate financial system.