Michael E. Busch

Michael Erin Busch
106th Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates
Incumbent
Assumed office January 8, 2003
Preceded by	Casper R. Taylor, Jr.
Member of the Maryland House of Delegates from the 30th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 14, 1987
Constituency	Annapolis, Maryland
Personal details
Born	January 4, 1947 (1947-01-04) (age 64) Baltimore, Maryland
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Cynthia Abbott Busch
Children	Erin, Megan
Residence	Annapolis, Maryland
Occupation	recreation and parks administrator

Michael E. Busch (born January 4, 1947) is the current Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates in the United States. Busch has been a member of the House since 1987, and Speaker since January 2003. He represents parts of Anne Arundel County, including the state capital of Annapolis.^[1]

Background

Mike Busch was born in Baltimore City and has been a lifelong resident of the state of Maryland. He attended St. Mary's High School in Annapolis and in 1970 received his B.S. degree in education from Temple University where he was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. ^[2]

Busch was pursued by the National Football League as a running back, prior to a knee injury. Busch then returned to Maryland to coach athletics and teach.

He is married to Cynthia Abbott Busch, with whom he has two children: Erin and Megan and he is an active member of Heritage Baptist Church in Annapolis.^[3]

Legislative career

Busch first got involved in politics at the urging of parents of his students. After winning election in 1986 to the House of Delegates, Busch served on the Judiciary Committee, the Economic Matters Committee, which he later chaired, and as Chairman of the Anne Arundel County Delegation.^{[citation needed]}

At the beginning of the 2003 session of the Maryland Legislature, Busch was elected, by his colleagues in the Maryland House of Delegates, Speaker of the House. Speaker Busch is known for his interest in the areas of health, insurance, and economic development, with a focus on health care.^{[citation needed]} During the 2007 legislative session, he sponsored a bill with other members of the leadership, the Children and Working Families Healthcare Act of 2007, which proposed to provide health care access to 250,000 Marylanders and all children in the state.^[4]

Legislative Notes

• sponsored The Tax Reform Act of 2007 (HB2) [1], which raised income tax, sales tax from 5% to 6%, and business tax from 7% to 8.25%. The bill was part of a special session that raised taxes an estimated $1.4 Billion. [2]

• sponsored The Safe Schools Act of 2010, to break down communication barriers between school personnel and law enforcement

• voted for the Maryland Gang Prosecution Act of 2007 (HB713), subjecting gang members to up to 20 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $100,000 [3]

• voted for Jessica’s Law (HB 930), eliminating parole for the most violent child sexual predators and creating a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in state prison, 2007 [4]

• voted for Public Safety – Statewide DNA Database System – Crimes of Violence and Burglary – Post conviction (HB 370), helping to give police officers and prosecutors greater resources to solve crimes and eliminating a backlog of 24,000 unanalyzed DNA samples, leading to 192 arrests, 2008 [5]

• voted for Vehicle Laws – Repeated Drunk and Drugged Driving Offenses – Suspension of License (HB 293), strengthening Maryland’s drunk driving laws by imposing a mandatory one year license suspension for a person convicted of drunk driving more than once in five years, 2009 [6]

• voted for HB 102, creating the House Emergency Medical Services System Workgroup, leading to Maryland’s budgeting of $52 million to fund three new Medevac helicopters to replace the State’s aging fleet, 2009 [7]

For the past four years, Speaker Busch has annually voted to support classroom teachers, public schools, police and hospitals in Anne Arundel County. Since 2002, funding to schools across the State has increased 82%, resulting in Maryland being ranked top in the nation for K-12 education.

Awards

• 2010 Most Influential Maryland Legislators (Top 20)^[5]

Election results

• 2006 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – 30th District^[6]

Voters to choose three:

Name	Votes	Percent	Outcome
Michael E. Busch, Dem.	22,479	17.1%	Won
Virginia P. Clagett, Dem.	22,360	17.0%	Won
Ron George, Rep.	21,811	16.6%	Won
Barbara Samorajczyk, Dem.	21,758	16.5%	Lost
Andy Smarick, Rep.	20,594	15.6%	Lost
Ron Elfenbein, Rep.	20,497	15.5%	Lost

• 2002 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – 30th District^[7]

Voters to choose three:

Name	Votes	Percent	Outcome
Michael E. Busch, Dem.	22,422	17.7%	Won
Virginia P. Clagett, Dem.	21,875	17.3%	Won
Herbert H. McMillan, Rep.	20,972	16.6%	Won
C. Richard D'Amato, Dem.	20,545	16.3%	Lost
Michael Collins, Rep.	19,140	15.1%	Lost
Nancy Almgren, Rep.	18,861	14.9%	Lost
David M. Gross, Green	2,536	2.0%	Lost
Other Write-Ins	71	0.1%

• 1998 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – District 30^[8]

Voters to choose three:

Name	Votes	Percent	Outcome
Michael E. Busch, Dem.	24,075	21%	Won
Virginia P. Clagett, Dem.	24,036	21%	Won
C. Richard D'Amato, Dem.	20,223	18%	Won
Phillip D. Bissett, Rep.	18,690	16%	Lost
Edward J. Turner, Rep.	14,119	12%	Lost
Anthony McConkey, Rep.	12,353	11%	Lost

• 1994 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – District 30^[9]

Voters to choose three:

Name	Votes	Percent	Outcome
Michael E. Busch, Dem.	18,709	19%	Won
Phillip D. Bissett, Rep.	18,009	23%	Won
Virginia P. Clagett, Dem.	18,254	18%	Won
Ralph C. Rosacker, Rep.	16,299	16%	Lost
Joan Beck, Rep.	15,974	16%	Lost
John C. Eldridge Jr., Dem.	13,320	13%	Lost

• 1990 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – District 30^[10]

Voters to choose three:

Name	Votes	Percent	Outcome
John Astle, Dem.	18,009	23%	Won
Aris T. Allen, Rep.	16,951	22%	Won
Michael E. Busch, Dem.	16,104	18%	Won
Edith Segree, Dem.	14,341	18%	Lost
Phillip D. Bissett, Rep.	13,321	17%	Lost

References

• Maryland Archives biography
• Campaign website biography

1. ^ http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/06hse/html/msa12196.html
2. ^ 2011 Pi Lambda Phi Membership Directory
3. ^ http://www.speakerbusch.com/
4. ^ Rein, Lisa (2007-02-08). "Md. House Leaders Offer Plan to Widen Health Coverage". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/07/AR2007020702131.html. Retrieved 2009-10-02. 
5. ^ Poll (2 April 2010). "Where Does Your Legislator Rank? See the list.". Maryland Gazette of Politics and Business. http://www.gazette.net/thelist/. Retrieved 10 April 2010. 
6. ^ "Official 2007 Gubernatorial General Election results for Anne Arundel County". Maryland State Board of Elections. http://www.elections.state.md.us/elections/2006/results/general/county_Anne_Arundel_County.html. 
7. ^ "House of Delegates Results". Maryland State Board of Elections. http://www.elections.state.md.us/elections/2002/results/g_house_of_delegate.html.  Retrieved on Jan, 20th, 2008
8. ^ "House of Delegates Results". Maryland State Board of Elections. http://www.elections.state.md.us/elections/1998/results_1998/gahod.html.  Retrieved on Nov. 7, 2007
9. ^ "House of Delegates Results". Maryland State Board of Elections. http://www.elections.state.md.us/elections/1994/results_1994/gahod.html.  Retrieved on Nov. 7, 2007
10. ^ "House of Delegates Results". Maryland State Board of Elections. http://www.elections.state.md.us/elections/1990/results_1990/gahod.html.  Retrieved on Nov. 7, 2007

Preceded by Casper R. Taylor, Jr.

Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates 2003–present

Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Busch, Michael E.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1947-01-04
Place of birth	Baltimore, Maryland
Date of death
Place of death