John J. Flanagan is the former Minority Leader of the New York State Senate. A Republican, Flanagan represents the 2nd District of the New York State Senate, which includes the entire town of Smithtown and portions of both the towns of Brookhaven and Huntington in Suffolk County, New York. He has served in the Senate since 2003, and was Majority Leader from 2015 to 2018. After announcing in March 2020 that he would not seek reelection that year, he announced his resignation effective June 28, 2020, to become a lobbyist for Northwell Health, a network of hospitals in the metro New York City area.
Life and early career
Flanagan was raised in Huntington, New York and attended Harborfields High School. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1983 with a B.A. in economics. He was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1987 to 2002, sitting in the 187th, 188th, 189th, 190th, 191st, 192nd, 193rd and 194th New York State Legislatures. He received a J.D. degree from Touro Law School in 1990 and was admitted to practice law in New York State in 1991. Flanagan married Lisa Perez, and the couple had three children. Spectrum News reported in August 2017 that Flanagan and his wife had divorced. In August 2017, Flanagan publicly stated that he had recently completed an alcohol treatment program.
Political career
Flanagan was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1986 following the death of his father, John J. Flanagan, Sr., and served in the Assembly until his 2002 election to the Senate. On May 11, 2015, Flanagan was elected Senate Majority Leader and Temporary President of the New York State Senate following Dean Skelos's resignation from the post. In 2012, Flanagan and Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee announced the "Breast Density Information" law they jointly sponsored to help improve early detection of breast cancer by informing women of their breast density and encouraging them to discuss with their physicians the potential benefits of additional screening tests. Flanagan has sponsored legislation that would ban the sale of salvia divinorum in New York State. The bill is awaiting passage in the New York State Assembly. He also has reintroduced his legislation that would ban the elements in synthetic marijuana. Before becoming Temporary President and Majority Leader of the New York State Senate, Flanagan served as the Chairman of the SenateStanding Committee on Education and as a member of the Committees on Codes; Corporations, Authorities and Commissions; Finance; Higher Education; Insurance; Judiciary; Rules and Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs. In 2013, he voted in favor of the NY Safe Act, but since then has indicated willingness to reconsider or modify such legislation. In 2011 Flanagan voted against the Marriage Equality Act, which legally recognized same-sex marriages performed in the state, in a closely divided Senate vote of 33–29. As the Chair of the New York Senate Education Committee, Flanagan held hearings across the state to examine several major issues including state assessments, the implementation of common core state standards and the protection of student privacy. The hearing series was called "The Regents Reform Agenda: 'Assessing' Our Progress" and was held in Long Island, Syracuse, Buffalo, New York City and Albany. As Senate Majority Leader, Flanagan pushed back on efforts to extend the statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse in New York State. He did not allow the Child Victims Act, a bill that had already passed the New York Assembly, to come up for a vote in the Senate in the 2017 spring session. Flanagan also opposed the Reproductive Health Act, an abortion rights bill supported by Governor Andrew Cuomo and Senate Democrats that Senate Republicans blocked from a Senate floor vote in 2018; Flanagan described the bill as a "radical expansion of abortion" that would allow certain non-physicians to perform abortion procedures. In 2018, EPL/Environmental Advocates gave Flanagan an Oil Slick Award in their annual Environmental Scorecard. Effective June 28th, 2020, Flanagan resigned before finishing his term in the Senate in order to become a lobbyist for Northwell Health.
