John Nothdurft Named Director of Government Relations for The Heartland Institute

Published December 9, 2010

John Nothdurft this month was named The Heartland Institute’s new director of government relations. Before moving in to head up Heartland’s government relations department – replacing Peter Fotos, who left for another position in November – John served the organization as a legislative specialist on budget, tax, and tobacco policy since May 2008.

John’s new responsibilities include interacting with elected officials and staff on all the issues Heartland addresses: budget and tax, environment, school reform, health care, information technology and telecommunications, and finance, insurance, and real estate and tobacco policy. John is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force, and he has testified before the Utah legislature on tax issues.

John also tracks new legislation and drafts responses to emerging issues via talking-points memos, news releases, and op-ed pieces – all in pursuit of educating legislators and informing them about free-market ideas. His work has been published in scores of publications, including the Chicago Tribune, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Detroit News, Chicago Sun-Times, and Investor’s Business Daily.

Prior to joining Heartland John was national press coordinator for Americans for Fair Taxation, a grassroots tax-reform organization with more than 100,000 members. While working for FairTax, John managed the media relations efforts and played a central role in organizing a 25-stop Iowa bus tour leading up to the 2006 Iowa Straw Poll. This work led to National Review characterizing the organization’s impact as being “the biggest success story of the 2008 Republican primary season.”

Born in Marietta, Georgia, John graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in political science from the University of Mississippi, and he has been involved with campaigns and politics ever since.
 
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The Heartland Institute is a 26-year-old national nonprofit organization based in Chicago. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. For more information, visit our Web site at http://www.heartland.org or call 312/377-4000.