Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland

Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland

Motto	Facing The Rising Sun of a New Day Begun
Formation	1970
Type	Political organization
Legal status	501(c)(4)
Purpose	public policies
Headquarters	Lowe House Office Building
Location	Annapolis, Maryland
Region served	Maryland, United States of America
Membership	44 members
Official language	English
Chairman	Veronica L. Turner
Parent organization	National Black Caucus of State Legislators
Affiliations	Maryland Legislative Black Caucus Foundation
Staff	1
Volunteers	10
Website	www.legislativeblkcaucusmd.org

The Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland (also known as 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 44 and is one of the largest state legislative black caucuses in the country.

Role

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.

2009 legislation

During the 2009 session of the Maryland General Assembly, the following Caucus general priorities were passed: SB 186- Correctional Facilities-Released Inmates-Identification Cards Sponsored by Senator Catherine Pugh. This bill will require the Commissioner of Correction to issue an identification card to an inmate before being released from confinement in a State Correctional facility. The identification card must comply with the requirements for secondary identification for the purpose of an identification card issued by the Motor Vehicle Administration.

SB 489- Minority Business Enterprise Certification-Cap on Personal Net Worth Sponsored by Senator Catherine Pugh. This bill requires that the personal net worth cap for eligibility in the State’s Minority Business Enterprise program be adjusted annually according to the Consumer Price Index. Personal net worth does not include up to $500,000 of the cash value of any qualified retirement savings plan or individual retirement account. The Maryland Department of Transportation, in consultation with the Attorney General’s office and specified legislative committees must evaluate whether the personal net worth cap should be further adjusted, and report its findings to the General Assembly by December 1, 2010.

SB 568-Minority Business Enterprise Program-Directory of Minority Business Enterprise Sponsored by Senator Catherine Pugh. This bill requires the Maryland Department of Transportation to include in its directory of Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) a list of all MBEs that are ineligible to participate in the State’s MBE program because (1) one or more of its owners has a personal net worth that exceeds the statutory cap; or (2) the MBE no longer qualifies as a small business under federal guidelines.

HB 637- Task Force on Prisoner Reentry Sponsored by Delegate Gerron Levi, this emergency bill establishes a Task Force on Prisoner Reentry. The Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services, or the Secretary’s designee, must chair the task force and provide staff support for the taskforce from the Department. An interim report to the Governor and the General Assembly is required by December 31, 2010 and final report of findings and recommendation is required by December 31, 2011.

During the 2009 session of the Maryland General Assembly, the following Caucus budgetary priorities were passed:

• Bowie State University received the $34 million needed for their new fine and performing arts building;
• Coppin State University received $4.1 million of the $9.4 million needed for their science and technology center;
• Morgan State University received $43.5 million of the $45 million needed for campus-wide renovations, new environment studies and business schools;
• The Minority Outreach and Technical Assistance program funding remained in the budget; and
• The Office of Minority Health received $335,000 out of $1 million set aside for infant mortality programs.

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 state 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

Officers 2010-2012

District	Officers	Position
40	Barbara A. Robinson	Chair
		1st Vice-chair
		2nd Vice-chair
		Secretary
26	Jay Walker	Treasurer
		Chaplain
18	Alfred C. Carr, Jr.	Parliamentarian
23b	Marvin E. Holmes, Jr.	Historian

Senators

District	County(s) Represented	Member Senator	Party	First Elected	Committee
10	Baltimore County	Delores G. Kelley	Democratic	1994	Finance
24	Prince George's	Joanne C. Benson	Democratic	1998	Finance
25	Prince George's	Ulysses Currie	Democratic	1994	Budget and Taxation (Chair)
26	Prince George's	C. Anthony Muse	Democratic	2006	Judicial Proceedings
40	Baltimore City	Catherine E. Pugh	Democratic	2006	Finance
41	Baltimore City	Lisa A. Gladden	Democratic	2002	Judicial Proceedings
43	Baltimore City	Joan Carter Conway	Democratic	1997[5]	Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs (Chair)
44	Baltimore City and County	Shirley Nathan-Pulliam	Democratic	1994
45	Baltimore City	Nathaniel J. McFadden	Democratic	1994	Budget and Taxation

House members

District	County (-ies) Represented	Member Delegate	Party	First Elected	Committee
10	Baltimore County	Adrienne Jones	Democratic	1997[5]	Appropriations
13	Howard	Frank S. Turner	Democratic	1994	Ways and Means
18	Montgomery	Alfred Carr	Democratic	2007[6]	Environmental Matters
21	Prince George's, Anne Arundel	Joseline Pena-Melnyk	Democratic	2006	Health and Government Operations
22	Prince George's	Tawanna Gaines	Democratic	2001[5]	Appropriations
22	Prince George's	Alonzo Washington	Democratic	2012	Ways and Means
23B	Prince George's	Marvin Holmes	Democratic	2002	Environmental Matters
24	Prince George's	Carolyn J.B. Howard	Democratic	1988[5]	Ways and Means
24	Prince George's	Michael Vaughn	Democratic	2002	Economic Matters
25	Prince George's	Dereck E. Davis	Democratic	1994	-
25	Prince George's	Angela Angel	Democratic	2015	Health and Government Operations
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	Suzie Proctor	Democratic	1990[5]	Appropriations (Vice-Chair)
28	Charles	C.T. Wilson	Democratic	2010	Environmental Matters
37A	Wicomico, Dorchester,		Democratic	1998	Environmental Matters
40	Baltimore City	Frank Conaway, Jr.	Democratic	2006	Judiciary
40	Baltimore City	Barbara Robinson	Democratic	2006	Appropriations
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
43	Baltimore City	Mary L. Washington	Democratic	2010	Ways and Means
44A	Baltimore City	Keith E. Haynes	Democratic	2002	Appropriations
45	Baltimore City	Talmadge Branch	Democratic	1994	Appropriations
45	Baltimore City	Cheryl Glenn	Democratic	2006	Environmental Matters
45	Baltimore City	Cory McCray	Democratic	2015
47	Prince George's	Diana Fennell	Democratic	2015

History

Former chairmen Trotter and Anderson with Rev. Jesse Jackson during a Caucus meeting in Annapolis, Maryland (1988)

The Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland was formed in 1970 as the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus. The Caucus has increased from it original membership of 17 to its present membership of 44.^[7] From its inception to the 1990s, only Prince George's County and Baltimore City had sent members to the Caucus. The present membership of the Legislative Black Caucus now includes elected representatives from Baltimore and Montgomery counties as well as the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Former chairs

Parren Mitchell receiving a Maryland House of Delegates citation from the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland and House Speaker Ben Cardin on the occasion os his retirement. (from l-r: Delegates Elijah Cummings, Clarence Davis, Hattie Harrison, John Douglass, Nathaniel Oaks, Ben Cardin, Pete Rawlings, Parren Mitchell, Curt Anderson, Ruth Kirk, Ralph Hughes, Larry Young, Wendell Phillips, Margaret "Peggy" Murphy

Maryland Manual-List of Black Caucus Chairman

Name	Tenure	County
DelegateAisha Braveboy	2012-2014	Prince George's County
Senator Catherine E. Pugh	2010-2012	Baltimore City
Delegate Veronica L. Turner	2008-2010	Prince Georges
Senator Verna L. Jones	2006-2008	Baltimore City
Delegate Rudolph C. Cane	2004-2006	Wicomico
Delegate Obie Patterson	2002-2004	Prince Georges
Delegate Talmadge Branch	2000-2002	Baltimore City
Delegate Carolyn J. B. Howard	1998-2000	Prince Georges
Senator Larry Young	1996-1997	Baltimore City
Delegate Joanne C. Benson	1995-1996	Prince Georges
Delegate John D. Jefferies	1992-1994	Baltimore City
Delegate Christine M. Jones	1991-1992	Prince Georges
Delegate Curt Anderson	1988-1990	Baltimore City
Senator Decatur "Bucky" Trotter	1986-1988	Prince Georges
Delegate Elijah E. Cummings	1984-1985	Baltimore City
Senator Clarence W. Blount	1982-1984	Baltimore City
Delegate Frank Conaway, Sr.	1981-1982	Baltimore City
Senator Robert Douglas	1978-1980	Baltimore City
Delegate Arthur Murphy, Sr.	1978	Baltimore City
Senator Robert Douglas	1976-1978,	Baltimore City
Delegate Lloyal Randolph	1972-1975	Baltimore City
Delegate Arthur King	1970-1972	Prince Georges

Notes

1. http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/07leg/html/caucus/black.html#senate
2. "SB488". Maryland Legislative Information System. Retrieved 2007-08-01.
3. http://mlis.state.md.us/2007rs/billfile/sb0543.htm
4. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17813609/
5. Originally appointed to office to fill an open seat, rather than elected. Each member so marked has been elected in their own right since their appointment.
6. Originally appointed to office to fill an open seat, rather than elected.
7. "About Us". Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland. Retrieved 2008-05-20.