[4] After college, he began work as a newspaper reporter in the Charleston–Mattoon region before being employed by the electric and gas industry, including time as the Director of Regulatory Affairs at Illinois Power.
He served as Project Manager of Illinois Power's regulatory reform initiative, which led to the state legislature's passage of Energy Choice 2000.
[3] In that same period he also earned a Certificate of Business Administration from the University of Illinois and attended the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation (1997).
[2] The 101st district to which Flider was appointed was at that time was anchored by the City of Decatur and included all or parts of Macon, Moultrie and Shelby counties in Central Illinois.
Some of the legislation that Flider served as the primary sponsor on that became laws include provisions that extended penalties for driving under the influence to persons driving under the influence of methamphetamine,[7] insured members of the public were able to comment at meetings of the Illinois Commerce Commission,[8] prevented gas and utility services from cutting off an individual’s service if the forecast was to be below freezing in an upcoming period.
After losing the election, Flider voted in favor of increasing the Illinois income tax rate from 3% to 5% during the January 2011 lame duck session.