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| Affiliation | Republican |
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| Name | John J. Flanagan, Jr. |
| Address | 4 Cayuga Ave
East Northport, New York , United States |
| Email | flanagan@senate.state.ny.us |
| Website | None |
| Born |
May 07, 1961
(62 years)
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| Contributor | *crickets chirp* |
| Last Modifed | RBH
Oct 04, 2016 05:27pm |
| Tags |
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| Info | John J. Flanagan was elected as the Senator for the 2nd District on November 5, 2002. The Suffolk County District includes the Town of Smithtown in its entirety, as well as portions of the Towns of Brookhaven and Huntington.
For the past sixteen years, Senator Flanagan served in the New York State Assembly where he established himself as an expert on both fiscal and educational issues, while becoming one of the leading Republican lawmakers in the state.
Senator Flanagan is widely regarded as a powerful Long Island spokesman in an often contentious arena, where budget debates frequently pit downstate interests against those of New York City and upstate. As a strong advocate for the suburban point of view, both Democratic and Republican colleagues acknowledge him as well-versed in the issues and articulate on the debate floor. He has elevated Long Island's statewide stature by forming beneficial alliances with top officials, including Gov. George Pataki and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. While ensuring that his constituents get their fair share of school aid, environmental protection monies and meaningful tax relief Senator Flanagan has become a force in Albany by earning prominent committee posts and leadership positions within the Republican Conference.
In 1997, he was appointed Assistant Minority Leader Pro Tempore in the Assembly, serving alongside then Minority Leader John J. Faso in tenaciously promoting the Republican legislative program. In 1998, he was appointed Ranking Republican member of the Assembly's powerful Ways and Means Committee, placing him in one of the highest decision-making capacities in the state. In this position, he was intricately involved in high-level budgets negotiations that had a dramatic impact on Long Island. An outspoken critic of late state budgets, Senator Flanagan has vociferously argued for budget reforms that will improve New York's financial health while preventing burdensome tax increases.
Senator Flanagan has been a champion of education funding in the state budget throughout his career and fought to insure his district received its fair share, helping to reduce class size and improve technology. Since 1997, Mr. Flanagan has been the chosen Assembly Republican spokesman on educational issues during budget negotiations, where he has helped direct policy for the entire state. As a veteran member of the Education and Higher Education committees, he supported the Safe Schools Against Violence in Education Act (Project SAVE), expanded funding for pre-kindergarten programs and made college more affordable by maintaining funding for New York State's tuition assistance program - the largest such program in the country. He also supports college savings programs that allow for tax-free savings and increased deductions for future college tuition payments.
Senator Flanagan also takes his focus on education to the most basic level by regularly visiting classrooms in his district, reading to students and talking to them about state government and civic responsibilities.
Senator Flanagan has earned high marks for his environmental record, recently being awarded a "perfect score" of 100 percent by EPL/Environmental Advocates, which tracks the environmental voting records of all state legislators. He is one of only seven New York State lawmakers to earn this distinction.
A longtime proponent of the STAR program that decreases school property taxes for all New Yorkers, Senator Flanagan has consistently pushed for upgrades that will result in further savings for seniors. Since its enactment, STAR has resulted in more than $2.7 billion in school property tax relief statewide.
Senator Flanagan maintains an exceptionally responsive district office within the community. Understanding that legislative matters can sometimes affect people on a very personal level, he uses the full resources of his office whenever possible to address the needs of individual constituents. In one instance, he was able to help an adoptive family from his district secure health coverage for their newborn by closing a loophole in the state Insurance Law that allowed health insurance companies to deny coverage to adopted infants from the time of birth.
Born in Selden, Senator Flanagan was raised in Huntington where he attended Harborfields High School. In 1983, he earned a B.A. in Economics from the College of William and Mary in Virginia and in 1990, he received a law degree from Touro Law School in Huntington. He currently practices law with the firm Forchelli, Curto, Schwartz, Mineo, Carlino, & Cohn LLP.
Senator Flanagan lives in East Northport with his wife, the former Lisa Perez of Maryland. Their three children, Ashley, Sean and Jake, attend school in the Northport-East Northport School District.
Senator Flanagan is highly active within his district, where his popularity among voters has garnered him well over 60 percent of the vote in nine elections. This continues a long tradition of public service for his family. The Senator has the honor of succeeding his father, John Flanagan, who had a distinguished career in the New York State Assembly from 1972 to 1986.
In addition to his standing committee assignments, Senator Flanagan is Co-Chairman of the Administrative Regulations Review Commission.
Standing Committee Assignments 2003: Ethics (Chair); Aging; Higher Education; Insurance; Labor; Transportation; Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs.
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