Michael Flynn
Director of Government Affairs
Michael Flynn is Director of Government Affairs for the Reason Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank whose mission is to advance a free society by developing, applying, and promoting libertarian principles, including individual liberty, free markets, and the rule of law.
Mr. Flynn has more than fifteen years experience in the development, implementation and analysis of public policy. He has provided his expertise to a number of non-profit organizations, including the Employment Policies Institute, the American Beverage Institute, the Center for Consumer Freedom, among others. For a number of years he directed all policy and legislative activities for the American Legislative Exchange Council, the nation's largest bi-partisan membership association of state legislators. He began his policy career in the Illinois General Assembly, where he worked as an analyst both in the capitol and in the Assembly's Washington, DC office.
Mr. Flynn has testified numerous times before the United States Congress. He has also testified before legislative committees in more two dozen states. He has also worked with a number of foreign elected officials helping them understand America's federalist system, including delegations from Brazil, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, the European Parliament and China.
Mr. Flynn is author of more than two dozen policy papers or studies covering a wide range of issues, with a particular focus on federal and state relations. His work has been cited by the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Post and numerous regional newspapers and radio. He has frequently appeared on a number of broadcast and cable networks, including CNN, CNBC, Fox News, ABC World News Tonight, Reuters Financial and C-SPAN.
Mr. Flynn is a graduate of the University of Iowa, where he studied English and Economics. Immediately after college, he managed a Coca-Cola Bottling distributorship. He is married to the former Maura Whalen, a documentary film producer. They have one daughter and live in Alexandria, Virginia.
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Analyzing State Government Spending
States significantly overspent even when the economy was good
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Is America Following the Policies that Caused Japan’s “Lost Decade”?
Federal government is repeating many of the same mistakes that created Japan's Lost Decade
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State Governments Face Deficits and Fiscal Trouble Because of Spending
From 2002 to 2007, state spending rose 50 percent faster than inflation