Brian Feldman (politician)

Brian Jeffrey Feldman (born February 4, 1961) is an American politician and a member of the Maryland Senate representing District 15. He previously served in the Maryland House of Delegates representing District 15.

Background
Feldman was born in Pittsburgh, where he graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School. He attended Pennsylvania State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting in 1983, and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1986. Feldman later attended Johns Hopkins University, where he earned a Master of Arts degree in government in 2000.

After graduating from law school, Feldman worked as an attorney and certified public accountant for Price Waterhouse until 1988, when he began working as a trial attorney for the United States Department of Justice Tax Division. He has worked as an adjunct professor for Johns Hopkins University since 2006, and for the University of Maryland, College Park since 2019.

In the legislature
Feldman was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 8, 2003.

In June 2013, state senator and then-Senate Majority Leader Robert J. Garagiola announced that he would resign from the Maryland Senate on September 1. Feldman applied to fill the vacancy and faced no formal opposition in the selection process following the withdrawal of his opponents. On September 10, 2013, the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee voted unanimously to nominate Feldman to fill the vacancy left by Garagiola. He was appointed to the Maryland Senate by Governor Martin O'Malley on September 12, 2013. Feldman successfully ran for election to a full term in the Maryland Senate in 2014, defeating perennial candidate Robin Ficker in the general election.

Committee assignments

 * Maryland Senate
 * Chair, Education, Energy and the Environment Committee, 2023–present
 * Member, Rules Committee, 2023–present
 * Member, Workers Compensation Benefit and Insurance Oversight Committee, 2015–present
 * Executive Nominations Committee, 2019–present
 * Legislative Policy Committee, 2019–present
 * Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics, 2019–present
 * Senate Chair, Joint Electric Universal Service Program Work Group, 2020–present
 * Member, Joint Information Technology and Biotechnology Committee, 2014
 * Joint Committee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Biotechnology, 2014–2018
 * Senate Chair, Joint Committee on Federal Relations, 2015–2018 (member, 2014–2018)
 * Member, Marijuana Legalization Work Group, 2019
 * Vice-Chair, Finance Committee, 2019–2022 (member, 2013–2022; property & casualty subcommittee, 2015–2017; chair, transportation subcommittee, 2015–2016; chair, health subcommittee, 2017–2018; chair, energy & public utilities subcommittee, 2019–2022; member, health & long-term care subcommittee, 2019–2022)


 * Maryland House of Delegates
 * Member, Economic Matters Committee, 2003–2013 (business regulation subcommittee, 2003–2010; corporations work group, 2003–2006; property & casualty insurance subcommittee, 2003–2013; consumer protection & commercial law subcommittee, 2007–2010; chair, banking, economic development, science & technology subcommittee, 2007–2013)
 * Medical Malpractice Insurance Work Group, 2004
 * Joint Committee on Access to Mental Health Services, 2005–2011
 * House Chair, Joint Technology Oversight Committee, 2007–2009
 * Member, Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review, 2007–2013
 * House Chair, Joint Information Technology and Biotechnology Committee, 2009–2013
 * Member, Rules and Executive Nominations Committee, 2011–2013
 * Regional Revitalization Work Group, 2013–present

Environment
During the 2018 legislative session, Feldman introduced the Clean Energy Jobs Act, which would require that half of Maryland's power comes from renewable sources by 2030. The bill was reintroduced in 2019, during which it passed and became law without Governor Larry Hogan's signature.

In 2021, Feldman criticized a Hogan administration proposal that sought to scale back the state's vehicle emissions testing program, later amending a bill to limit the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration's ability to implement changes to its emissions inspection program.

Health care
During the 2018 legislative session, Feldman introduced the Protect Maryland Health Care Act, a bill that would reinstate the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) individual shared responsibility provision following its repeal under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The bill would combine the money collected under the mandate with federal tax credits to pay for health care coverage for uninsured individuals. The bill failed to move out of committee, and was reintroduced in 2019, during which it was amended to create a guide on state tax forms to help uninsured individuals sign up for Medicaid or subsidized health plans. The amended bill was signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan on May 13, 2019.

During the 2019 legislative session, Feldman introduced a bill to establish a Prescription Drug Affordability Board, which would have the power to set upper payment limits on select prescription drugs.

In December 2019, after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down several provisions of the ACA in its ruling in California v. Texas, Feldman promised to enshrine as many of the ACA's provisions into state law as he could. During the 2020 legislative session, he introduced and passed legislation to codify the ACA's consumer protections provisions, including cost sharing limits, pre-existing conditions protections, and keeping dependents on a parents' health insurance plan up to age 26.

During the 2020 legislative session, Feldman introduced a bill that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to get vaccinated without parental permission.

During the 2021 legislative session, Feldman introduced a bill banning medical debt collection agencies from garnishing the wages or placing liens on homes of people who owed medical debt, and limiting payments made toward medical debt at five percent of a person's income. The bill unanimously passed the Maryland General Assembly and became law without Governor Larry Hogan's signature. Also in 2021, he introduced a bill to create a pilot program to allow young adults to enroll for health insurance coverage for as little as $1 a month. The bill passed and became law without Hogan's signature. In 2023, Feldman introduced a bill to extend this program.

Israel
In November 2023, Feldman and eight other state senators signed a joint letter that threatened to defund immigrants rights group CASA de Maryland because it had called for an immediate ceasefire in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war and condemned the "utilization of US tax dollars to promote the ongoing violence."

Marijuana
During the 2020 legislative session, Feldman introduced a bill that would allow students with authorized medical cannabis cards to take medical cannabis on school grounds.

During the 2021 legislative session, Feldman introduced a bill to legalize recreational marijuana, taxed at 10 percent and gradually increasing to 20 percent by 2027, and decriminalize possession of marijuana up to four ounces for adults 21 years or older. The bill failed to move out of committee. The bill was reintroduced in 2022, during which it passed the Maryland Senate on a voice vote.

During the 2022 legislative session, Feldman introduced legislation to ban the sale of Delta-8. He later amended the bill to limit its sale to adults aged 21 and older.

During the 2023 legislative session, Feldman introduced and passed a bill to legalize adult use cannabis in Maryland and create a regulatory framework for Maryland's cannabis industry.

National politics
During the 2019 legislative session and following the 2018-2019 federal government shutdown, Feldman introduced a bill to provide temporary assistance to "essential" government employees during government shutdowns. The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan on March 26, 2019.

In 2008, Feldman successfully ran for delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Maryland's 8th congressional district, pledged to U.S. Senator Barack Obama. In July 2019, he endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for president.

Social issues
In 2017, Feldman introduced a bill that would prohibit ticket sales companies from restricting the resale of tickets to concerts or sporting events.

During the 2019 legislative session, Feldman introduced a bill to deregulate the state's craft brewery industry, increasing the limits on how many barrels a brewery could produce a year and loosening franchise restrictions on small breweries. The bill passed unanimously and was signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan.

During the 2023 legislative session, Feldman introduced and passed a bill that would require four-year public universities to develop a plan to provide students with access to emergency contraception and abortion services.

Transportation
In 2018, Feldman introduced the Maryland Metro/Transit Funding Act, a bill that would pay $167 million to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) as part of a cost sharing agreement between Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia to help the agency pay for new rail cars and maintenance. The bill was signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan on April 25, 2018.

In July 2019, Feldman criticized Maryland Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn's decision to withhold $55.6 million in funding from WMATA and questioned whether the state had the legal authority to withhold these funds.