Benjamin Brooks (politician)

Benjamin Thomas Brooks Sr. (born April 23, 1950) is an American politician who has served as a member of the Maryland Senate for District 10, based in Baltimore County, since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the district in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2015 to 2023.

Early life and education
Benjamin Thomas Brooks Sr. was born in Sumter, South Carolina on April 23, 1950. He graduated from Ebenezer High School. After graduating, Brooks served in the United States Army from 1969 to 1972, where he worked as a telephone repairman and earned the Accommodations Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Medal, and the Vietnam Service Medal, and afterwards attended South Carolina State University, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in accounting in 1976.

Career
After graduating from South Carolina State, Brooks worked as an accountant for Seagram, first as a junior accountant from 1976 to 1978 and then as a cost accountant until 1987. He has run his own tax service company, B & R Brooks Professional Tax Service, since 1987 and his own investment firm, Brooks Family Investments Inc., since 2004.

Brooks first got involved in politics in 2010, when he was elected as a member of the Baltimore County Democratic Central Committee. In December 2010, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz appointed Brooks as chair of the county's liquor board, where he served until 2013.

Maryland General Assembly
Brooks ran for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 10 in 2014, during which he won the Democratic primary alongside Jay Jalisi and incumbent Adrienne A. Jones. He was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 14, 2015, where he served on the Economic Matters Committee during his entire tenure and as the chair of its public utilities subcommittee from 2019 to 2023. Brooks also served as deputy majority whip from 2017 to 2023. In 2019, Brooks sought to run for Treasurer of Maryland, challenging incumbent Nancy Kopp, but missed the deadline for filing to run. Despite this, Brooks received 24 votes in the treasurer election.

In 2022, Brooks ran for the Maryland Senate in District 10, seeking to succeed retiring state Senator Delores G. Kelley. During the Democratic primary, he was endorsed by Kelley and ran on a slate with Adrienne Jones, N. Scott Phillips, and Jennifer White. He also faced colleague Jay Jalisi, whom he defeated with 37.6 percent of the vote. Brooks was sworn into the Maryland Senate on January 11, 2023, and has since served on the Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee.

Brooks is a member of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland and the Maryland Veterans Caucus. He was a delegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention, pledged to Hillary Clinton.

Personal life
Brooks married his wife, Irene Theresa, on August 10, 1974. Together, they have three children. He is a member of the St. Gabriel Roman Catholic Church in Windsor Mill, Maryland.

Political positions
In November 2015, Brooks signed onto a letter calling on Governor Larry Hogan to allow refugees of the Syrian civil war into Maryland after Hogan said that he would ask the Obama administration to stop sending such refugees to the state.

During the 2020 legislative session, Brooks introduced a bill to create timelines for Maryland's remaining power plants to transition away from coal and establish a transition fund to mitigate economic impacts for employees. The bill was withdrawn after he and Senate sponsor Chris West announced a deal with AES Corporation that would cause the Warrior Run Generating Station to stop burning coal in 2030.

In November 2020, Brooks expressed support for stricter regulations on police. He attended a simulated police training exercise hosted by the Maryland Fraternal Order of Police, which he said gave him emphasize with the split-second decisions officers have to make, but did not change his mind on policing reforms.

In October 2021, Brooks joined a lawsuit against the Baltimore County Council's redistricting plan, which resulted in a new map with a second minority opportunity district.

During the 2023 legislative session, Brooks introduced legislation to establish the Maryland Native Plants Program to encourage garden centers to plant native vegetation. The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Wes Moore.