Tenure

First elected to the Senate in 2010. Member of the Senate since 2011.

Current Assignments

2013- Minority Whip

2013- Budget and Taxation Committee

2013 Spending Affordability Committee

2014 Executive Nominations Committee

2014 Legislative Policy Committee

2014 Joint Audit Committee

2014 Joint Committee on Pensions

2014 Chair, Senate Select Committee No. 2, Carroll County

2011- Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics

Past Senate Service

Special Committee on Ethics Reform, 2013-2014; Task Force to Study Court Decision Regarding Pit Bulls, 2012-2014; Judicial Proceedings Committee, 2011-2013; Senate Standing Committee on Reapportionment and Redistricting, 2011-2012; Task Force to Study the Laws and Policies Relating to Representation of Indigent Criminal Defendants by the Office of the Public Defender, 2012-2014.

Past House Service 1995-2003

Judiciary Committee, 1999-2003; Family and Juvenile Law Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee, 1999-2003; Deputy Minority Whip, 1999-2002; Commerce and Government Matters Committee, 1995-1998; State Government and Civil Rights Subcommittee of the Commerce and Government Matters Committee, 1995-1998; Joint Committee on Transparency and Open Government, 2011-2014.

Public Service

Social Studies Task Force, State Department of Education, 2004-2006; Chair, Carroll County Republican Central Committee, 2003, 1991-1992; Article 27 (Crimes and Punishments) Revision Committee, 1999-2003; Committee on Access to Court Records, 2001-2002; Forensic Sciences Task Force, 2000-2001; Commission to Revise the Election Code, 1996-1997; Task Force to Review the State's Election Law, 1995; Legislative Committee, Carroll County Chamber of Commerce, 1990-1994; Executive Director, Historical Society of Carroll County, 1987-1994; Carroll County Republican Central Committee, 1985-1994, 1985-1994; Cable Television Advisory Committee, Carroll County, 1989-1993; Charter Board, Carroll County, 1992; Chair, Carroll County Historic District Commission, 1992; Carroll County Historic District Commission, 1989-1992; Rural Historic Village Protection Program Advisory Committee of Maryland Environmental Trust, 1990-; Chair, Carroll County Committee for Maryland’s 350th Anniversary, 1983-1984; Acting Director, Mid-Atlantic Regional Office, National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1981-1982.

Memberships

Maryland Bar Association (Section of Family and Juvenile Law; Section of Solo and Small Firm Practice), 1996-; Board of Governors, Union Mills Homestead Foundation, 1979-1992; Board of Directors, Preservation Maryland, 1984-1990.

Biographical Information

Born, Olney, Maryland, April 14, 1952; Washington College, B.A., American Studies, 1974; George Washington University, M.A., American Civilization, 1980; University of Maryland School of Law, J.D., 1996; Political Director, Ehrlich for Governor, 2002; Director of Policy, Governor-Elect's Transition Team, 2002-03; Director of Policy, Office of the Governor, 2003; Policy and Legislative Director, Office of the Governor, 2004-07; Architectural Historian and Historic Preservation Researcher/Writer; Author: Uniontown, Maryland-Walking Tour, 1983; Carroll’s Heritage: Essays on the Architecture of a Piedmont Maryland County, 1987; The Engine of Liberty & Uniontown Advertiser, 1993; Married, Six children.