Since then, the Institute has continued to be active on the issue, educating Congress, the media and the public about the costs of the estate tax and building Congressional pressure for permanent repeal.
[2] The organization's mission, as stated on its 990 tax filings, is to “Promote public policies that lead to the abolition of the Death Tax; to protect the fundamental relationship of personal property to liberty; and to preserve family businesses and entrepreneurship as a foundation of the American way of life.” First led by estate planning attorney Harold Apolinski, AFBI's president since 2004 has been Dick Patten.
Patten is a former family business owner and the activist who filed Initiative 402 to repeal the Washington State Inheritance and Gift Taxes.
The organization he founded collected approximately 200,000 signatures and Initiative 402 was approved by 72% of Washington state voters.
[7] The Foundation has published studies about the impact of the Federal Estate Tax on small business job-creation, federal revenue collection, wealth concentration and other areas where the estate tax and family business needs intersect.