
Geoffrey Lawrence
Director of Research
Geoffrey Lawrence is director of research at Nevada Policy.Lawrence has broad experience as a financial executive in the public and private sectors and as a think tank analyst. Lawrence has been Chief Financial Officer of several growth-stage and publicly traded manufacturing companies and managed all financial reporting, internal control, and external compliance efforts with regulatory agencies including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Lawrence has also served as the senior appointee to the Nevada State Controller’s Office, where he oversaw the state’s external financial reporting, covering nearly $10 billion in annual transactions. During each year of Lawrence’s tenure, the state received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Award from the Government Finance Officers’ Association.
From 2008 to 2014, Lawrence was director of research and legislative affairs at Nevada Policy and helped the institute develop its platform of ideas to advance and defend a free society. Lawrence has also written for the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation, with particular expertise in state budgets and labor economics. He was delighted at the opportunity to return to Nevada Policy in 2022 while concurrently serving as research director at the Reason Foundation.
Lawrence holds an M.A. in international economics from American University in Washington, D.C., an M.S. and a B.S. in accounting from Western Governors University, and a B.A. in international relations from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He lives in Las Vegas with his beautiful wife, Jenna, and their two kids, Carson Hayek and Sage Aynne.
Es hora de acabar con la ambigüedad de la legalización del cannabis
Imagínate que operas una empresa que tiene todas las desventajas de ser legal e ilegal, pero ninguna de las ventajas de ninguno de los dos. Pagas impuestos, estás sometido a…
It's Time to End the Ambiguity of Cannabis Legalization
Imagine operating a business that suffers all the downsides of being both legal and illegal, but none of the upsides of either. You pay taxes, are subject to copious amounts…
La iniciativa concedería derechos que han existido durante generaciones
Geoffrey Lawrence, director de políticas de Nevada Policy, escribió el siguiente artículo para la fundación “Reason”. La Legislatura de Nevada remitió la Pregunta 1 a los votantes como una propuesta…
Question 1: Seeking Rights Already in Place
Geoffrey Lawrence, policy director for Nevada Policy, wrote the below article for the Reason Foundation. The Nevada Legislature referred Question 1 to the voters as a proposed constitutional amendment…
Disparate Nevadans Unite Around Federal Lands Issue
American society has always been polarized. From the outset, civil society separated into opposing factions that nearly went to war against each other in 1800 – just 12 years after…
Frequently asked questions about the States Reform Act, a proposed marijuana bill
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) unveiled the States Reform Act, a proposal to remove marijuana from the auspices of the federal Controlled Substances Act. Today, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC)…
Rise of Government Unions
Executive Summary Unions in America are changing. In 2009, for the first time, a majority of union members were not workers in private industry, but in government.
How Government Unions Affect State and Local Finances
Over the past half-century, the American union movement has moved into government. Despite highly publicized efforts to curtail collective bargaining powers of government unions in Ohio and Wisconsin, almost all…
Solution of the Week: Charter schools
Nevada lawmakers need to create a parent trigger law, allowing parents to transform failing traditional schools into charter schools if a majority of them sign a petition demanding such changes.