Senator John J. Flanagan represents the Second Senate District, which includes the entire Town of Smithtown and portions of both the Town of Brookhaven and the Town of Huntington. He was first elected to represent this portion of Suffolk County in 2002 and overwhelmingly reelected in both 2004 and 2006.

His commitment to the disabled community, school organizations and women’s groups has led to increased state funding and enactment of critical legislation in these areas.

As a member of the New York State Assembly, Senator Flanagan served as the ranking member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. This position allowed him to work to provide taxpayers with meaningful tax relief.

As a member of the Senate, he helped create the STAR rebate program to deliver property tax relief in the form of a rebate check and has continually fought to expand the STAR program.

To help ease the tax burden of volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers throughout New York State, Senator Flanagan authored legislation that grants these first responders an expanded real property tax exemption on their homes.

An outspoken critic of late state budgets, Senator Flanagan has argued for budget reforms that will improve New York's financial health while preventing burdensome tax increases.

Senator Flanagan has a long history of fighting to provide assistance for the Second District including ensuring that his constituents get their share of state aid to reduce class size and improve technology. 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.

To protect school-aged children, he worked to permanently extend the Child Safety Zone law which gives otherwise ineligible children access to bus service.

In his first year in the Senate, Senator Flanagan worked with local advocates to author landmark protections for stalking victims and their families. In the years that have followed, he has worked to increase public protection by successfully expanding public access to the New York State Sex Offender Registry, requiring lifetime registration for sexual predators and ending the statute of limitations for rapists.

A strong proponent of safety on Long Island waterways, he worked to lower the legal blood alcohol level for boating while intoxicated to .08 and successfully fought to increase the penalties faced by those who operate a boat while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

To further his efforts to protect the public, Senator Flanagan was successful in requiring the Department of Environmental Conservation to disclose more information concerning toxic spills to the general public on its web site.

Senator Flanagan has worked closely with members of the community to successfully halt the sale of the environmentally fragile Kings Park Psychiatric Center to protect the more than 370 acres of pristine land, secure $25 million in state funding for the clean up of the site and transfer this beautiful parcel of open space into the New York State parks system for preservation and public enjoyment.

He has been instrumental in helping the Long Island State Veterans Home at Stony Brook accomplish their goal of serving and caring for the veterans of Long Island. His support has been vital in enabling the facility to proceed with important capital and technological improvements that will enhance the care received by those who have served our country.

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.

He is following the path of his father, the late John Flanagan, who served in the New York State Assembly from 1972 to 1986. Senator Flanagan resides in East Northport with his wife, the former Lisa Perez of Maryland. Their two sons currently attend school in the Northport-East Northport School District while their daughter is attending college.

Senator Flanagan currently serves as the Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee of Corporations, Authorities and Commissions and is a standing member of the Aging; Consumer Protection; Higher Education; Insurance; Labor; Tourism, Recreation and Sports Development; Transportation; and Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs Standing Committees.

He is a also member of the Task Force on Government Reform, the Task Force on World Trade Center Recovery, the Task Force on State and Local Emergency Preparedness and the Task Force on Children's Health and Safety.

In July of 2008, he was selected to serve on the powerful four-member Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Capital Program Review Board which is responsible for reviewing, monitoring and approving the MTA's multi-billion dollar five-year capital spending programs.