Philip C. Jimeno
Philip C. Jimeno (born February 28, 1947, in Fairmont, West Virginia) is an American politician and was a long-serving member of the Maryland State Legislature as a Democrat. He attended Fairmont State College in his hometown. He was married in 1969, and he and his wife Ramona moved to Brooklyn Park, Maryland in 1970. He worked as a probation and parole officer in Baltimore and was involved in the local improvement association, the Roland Terrace Democratic Club and became president of the Greater Brooklyn Park Council. In 1978, he decided to run for a seat in the Maryland House. He won that election, and went on to represent District 31 in the Maryland State Legislature from 1985 until his retirement in 2007. In more than two decades of service, Mr. Jimeno missed just one day of the General Assembly session when a snowstorm left him unable to get out of his driveway.
Mr. Jimeno claims lead sponsorship on more than 65 legislative bills and claims co-sponsorship of more than 200. One of his favorite pieces of legislation was Maryland Senate Bill 305, known as Annie's Bill, which was passed in the early 1990s. It set a new standard for timely and compulsory blood-alcohol testing and toughened drunken driving laws, allowing for drivers' in accidents where a person was seriously injured or killed to be tested for alcohol at the time of the incident, rather than a day or so later. Mr. Jimeno is quick to share credit for the bill, however. Quoting Mr. Jimeno: "It was a group of Marley Middle School students who lobbied that bill. It was a major bill, and it passed because of those young students in seventh or eighth grade. It was their severe commitment." Shortly before leaving office, Mr. Jimeno declared: "I hope to be remembered for my constituent service and for the fact that I treated everyone fairly," he said. "I stayed close with the citizens I represent. I never lost touch with them."
In his most recent election challenge in 2002, Mr. Jimeno won re-election with 62% of the vote against his Republican challenger, David K. Kyle, who received 38%.