Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland

Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland
Maryland General Assembly
Constituency	African American Marylanders

The Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, aka: The Maryland Legislative Black Caucus is an American political organization composed of African Americans elected to the Maryland General Assembly.[1] Incorporated in 1970, the Caucus membership has grown from 17 to 42 and is one of the largest state legislative black caucus in the country.

Role of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland

By drafting and sponsoring legislation to address constituent needs and by examining all bills that affect the black populace, the Caucus acts as a legislative body on behalf of the black community. Currently, of Maryland's 24 sub-divisions, only Baltimore City, Prince Georges, Baltimore, Montgomery, Howard and Wicomico Counties have elected members to the Maryland Black Caucus. So additionally the Caucus presents a black perspective from the entire state to the Legislature and advocates public policies that promote black social, cultural and economic progress, statewide. In addition, the Caucus serves as a research study group to generate pertinent data in support of appropriate public policies.

2007 Legislation

During the 2007 session of the Maryland General Assembly the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland pushed several bills through both Houses and had them signed into law. One of which was a bill that required tate contractors to pay their employees a “living wage.” For fiscal year 2008, the living wage is set at $ 11.30 in Montgomery, Prince George’s, Howard, Anne Arundel and Baltimore Counties and Baltimore City. It is set at $8.50 for all other areas of the State. Additionally, the Caucus pushed for SB 488. This bill allows an individual convicted of any crime, with the exception of buying or selling votes, to register to vote if not actually serving a court-ordered sentence of imprisonment, including any term of parole or probation, for a felony conviction.[2] Another Caucus bill, SB 543-2007 Darfur Protection Act-Divestiture from the Republic of Sudan, requires the Board of Trustees of the State Retirement and Pension System to encourage companies hold actively traded accounts in its portfolio that conduct business in Sudan to act responsibly and avoid actions that promote or enable human rights violations in Sudan.[3] Additionally, the Caucus pushed for Senate Joint resolution 6 which requires the state to express regret for the role that Maryland played in instituting and maintaining slavery and for the discrimination that was slavery’s legacy. [4] The Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland also supported the creation of state debt for funding for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington D.C. $ 500,000 was awarded to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Foundation.

Current Membership of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland

House Members

District	County(s) Represented	Member Delegate	Party	First Elected	Committee
10	Baltimore County	Emmet Burns	Democratic	1994	Economic Matters
10	Baltimore County	Adrienne A. Jones	Democratic	1997[1]	Appropriations
10	Baltimore County	Shirley Nathan	Democratic	1994	Health and Government Operations
13	Howard	Frank S. Turner	Democratic	1994	Ways and Means
14	Montgomery	Herman Taylor	Democratic	2003	Economic Matters
15	Montgomery	Craig L. Rice	Democratic	2006	Ways and Means
21	Prince George's, Anne Arundel	Joseline Pena-Melnyk	Democratic	2006	Health and Government Operations
22	Prince George's	Tawanna Gaines	Democratic	2001[1]	Appropriations
23.123A	Prince George's	Levi, GerronGerron Levi	Democratic	2006	Judiciary
23B	Prince George's	Marvin Holmes	Democratic	2002	Environmental Matters
24	Prince George's	Joanne C. Benson	Democratic	1990	Health and Government Operations
24	Prince George's	Carolyn Howard	Democratic	1988[1]	Ways and Means
24	Prince George's	Michael Vaughn	Democratic	2002	Economic Matters
25	Prince George's	Aisha Braveboy	Democratic	2006	Economic Matters
25	Prince George's	Dereck E. Davis	Democratic	1994	Economic Matters (Chair)
25	Prince George's	Melony Griffith	Democratic	1998	Appropriations
26	Prince George's	Jay Walker	Democratic	2006	Ways and Means
26	Prince George's	Veronica Turner	Democratic	2002	Health and Government Operations
27A	Prince George'sCalvert	Jim Proctor	Democratic	1990[1]	Appropriations (Vice-Chair)
37A	Wicomico, Dorchester,	Rudolph C. Cane	Democratic	1998	Environmental Matters
40	Baltimore City	Frank Conaway	Democratic	2006	Judiciary
40	Baltimore City	Barbara Robinson	Democratic	2006	Appropriations
40	Baltimore City	Shawn Z. Tarrant	Democratic	2006	Health and Government Operations
41	Baltimore City	Jill P. Carter	Democratic	2002	Judiciary
41	Baltimore City	Nathaniel T. Oaks	Democratic	1982	Health and Government Operations
43	Baltimore City	Curt Anderson	Democratic	1982	Judiciary
44	Baltimore City	Keith E. Haynes	Democratic	2002	Appropriations
44	Baltimore City	Ruth M. Kirk	Democratic	1982	Economic Matters
44	Baltimore City	Melvin L. Stukes	Democratic	2006	Ways and Means
45	Baltimore City	Talmadge Branch	Democratic	1994	Appropriations
45	Baltimore City	Cheryl Glenn	Democratic	2006	Environmental Matters
45	Baltimore City	Hattie N. Harrison	Democratic	1973[1]	Economic Matters
47	Prince George's	Jolene Ivey	Democratic	2006	Ways and Means

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e}

Originally appointed to office to fill an open seat, rather than elected. Each Delegate so marked has been elected in their own right since their appointment.

Former chairs of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland

Maryland Manual-List of Black Caucus Chairman

Branches of the State Government of Maryland
Executive	Governor (List) • Lt. Governor • Comptroller • Treasurer • Attorney General • Secretary of State
Legislative	General Assembly • Senate (Senators, President) • House of Delegates (Members, Speaker)
Judicial	Court of Appeals (Judges) • Court of Special Appeals

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