Mr. Burns recently retired after selling his consulting firm Burns & Associates (B&A) in 2018. He is currently the President of his homeowner’s association in Carefree, Arizona, serves on the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Public Safety Advisory Committee for the Town of Carefree, and is also a member of both the Long Range Planning and the Greens and Grounds Committees of the Pinetop Country Club.

Mr. Burns founded B&A in 2006. The firm is a Phoenix-based public policy consulting firm specializing in assisting state and local governments in health and social service programs, with special emphasis in Medicaid financing, behavioral health, and services to the developmentally disabled community. At the time of Mr. Burns’ departure, the firm had 15 employees and had had engagements in 23 states and one Canadian province.

Though the majority of B&A’s business is outside of Arizona, the firm has maintained an active presence in the State. In recent years, B&A has had consulting engagements with governmental agencies including First Things First, the Office of the Governor, the Department of Economic Security, the Department of Child Safety, the Department of Health Services, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), the City of Phoenix, and Maricopa Integrated Health System, as well as community organizations including the Arizona Behavioral Health Coalition, the Arizona Health Care Coalition, and the Northern Arizona Regional Behavioral Health Authority (NARBHA).

Prior to forming his own firm, Mr. Burns was with the Washington DC firm of EP&P Consulting where he also worked on health care public policy issues. Mr. Burns was also an independent consultant for several years.

Before moving to consulting Mr. Burns spent many years with the Arizona State government in a number of capacities. Mr. Burns was the Director of the Arizona Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting for nine years, where he served three Governors. In this position he was the primary fiscal advisor to the Governor and was responsible for the preparation and presentation of the annual Executive Budget. He also acted as the Governor’s chief lobbyist in the legislative appropriations process.

During his tenure as Budget Director, Mr. Burns also participated at the national level where he was a principal briefer for the Republican Governors’ Association during the Medicaid reform debate in the Congress in 1996 and serving as president of the National Association of State Budget Officers during that same year.

Mr. Burns’ other experience includes serving as the Chief Research Economist for the Arizona House of Representatives where he worked principally on tax and education matters for the Majority Leader, the Tax Supervisor for Phelps Dodge Corporation’s Western Operations, and the General Manager for a custom on-premise sign manufacturing company.

Mr. Burns received both his MBA and his undergraduate degree from Arizona State University and currently resides in Arizona.