It was founded by a group of Kansans who supported the Cato Institute and wanted to apply that model to Kansas state government.

[5] In addition to its policy studies, KPI maintains a site titled KansasOpenGov,[5] it established an online newspaper, The Sentinel, in 2016.

[6] KPI is affiliated with two national conservative and libertarian political organizations: the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the State Policy Network.

This claim drew both positive and negative attention from the media and school boards and the issue became a topic of conversation in the K-12 finance debate.

[8] A 2013 report by two liberal-leaning groups, the Center for Media and Democracy and ProgressNow, claimed that KPI was "part of a network of state-based think tanks whose purpose is to push right-wing legislation that benefits corporate donors.