WASHINGTON D.C. - The Progress & Freedom Foundation and Senior Fellow Randolph May jointly announce today the creation of the Free State Foundation, a free-market think tank focusing on issues in Maryland as well as some important national issues, such as communications policy. May, currently PFF’s director of communications policy studies, is the founder and president of The Free State Foundation, and will leave PFF on May 31 to devote his full attention to his new venture. The Free State Foundation is not affiliated with The Progress & Freedom Foundation.

“Randy has been a significant contributor to The Progress & Freedom Foundation’s growing success in his six years here,” said PFF President Ray Gifford. “His recent success in shepherding the Digital Age Communications Act has been remarkable, and it inspired a U.S. senator to introduce legislation based directly on DACA conclusions. In testimony on Capitol Hill, in research papers and in columns, Randy has successfully promoted free-market principles in communications policy.”

“I’ve enjoyed contributing to PFF’s increasingly visible profile in communications policy debates,” May said. “Working with my colleagues on the Digital Age Communications Act and in other areas has been very rewarding. But at this time I feel the challenge of launching and running a new free-market think tank is the right path for me, and I appreciate very much the support and encouragement of my PFF colleagues. Maryland is a state with much to offer, but in terms of public policy it does not always recognize how a free market can empower consumers.”

The Free State Foundation is a non-profit Maryland-based think tank. Its purpose is to promote understanding of free market, limited government, and rule of law principles in Maryland and throughout the United States. FSF will focus on eliminating unnecessary and counterproductive regulatory mandates, reducing overly burdensome taxes, protecting individual and economic liberty, reforming civil liability laws, and making government more effective, efficient, and accountable. May brings to FSF an extensive background in communications policy, but that will only be a part the Foundation’s work.

May has been involved in communications policy for three decades. From 1978 to 1981, May served as Assistant General Counsel and Associate General Counsel at the Federal Communication Commission, and he subsequently practiced communications and administrative law. He has held numerous leadership positions in bar associations, including immediate past Chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice.  May also served as a Public Member of the Administrative Conference of the United States. He writes regularly on regulatory affairs for the National Law Journal.  In addition, he has published more than eighty articles and essays on communications, administrative and constitutional law topics. May is an adjunct professor of law at George Mason University School of Law. He received his A.B. from Duke University and his J.D. from Duke Law School, where he serves as a member of the Board of Visitors.

The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a market-oriented think tank that studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy. It is a 501(c)(3) research & educational organization.