Bonita Lynne Cullison (born March 24, 1954) is an American teacher, labor official, and politician who has served as a member of the
Maryland House of Delegates
The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...
in
District 19
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
since 2011.
Background
Cullison was born in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
on March 24, 1954. She graduated from the
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...
, where she earned her bachelor's and masters degrees in speech pathology in 1976 and 1978.
After graduating, Cullison worked as a speech language pathologist for
St. Mary's County Public Schools from 1978 to 1981, afterwards working as a special education teacher for
Montgomery County Public Schools Montgomery County Public Schools may refer to:
*Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland)
*Montgomery County Public Schools (Virginia)
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is the school district serving Montgomery County, Virginia.
Schools P ...
until 2000. She continued to work in various local education organizations and has worked as a field liaison for the
National Education Association
The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college stude ...
since 2010.
From 2003 to 2009, Cullison was the chief of the Montgomery County teachers' union.
While seeking to be elected to the policy-setting executive committee of the National Education Association, Cullison raised money to pay for her campaign's travel, mailings, and other costs. She asked for contributions from Maryland state legislators, many of whom had previously been endorsed by the teachers' union. The
Attorney General of Maryland
The Attorney General of the State of Maryland is the chief legal officer of the State of Maryland in the United States and is elected by the people every four years with no term limits. To run for the office a person must be a citizen of and qual ...
determined that political campaigns cannot fund a national union's internal election, and the Maryland State Board of Elections ordered Cullison to refund the several thousand dollars she'd raised from state legislators, and she did so. Cullison was not elected to the position at the National Education Association.
Cullison served as the chair of the Committee for Montgomery, a coalition of business and community leaders in Montgomery County advocating for Montgomery County's interests in the Maryland General Assembly, from 2006 to 2007.
In the legislature
Cullison was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 12, 2011. She has served as a member of the Health and Government Operations Committee since 2011, and its vice chair since 2023. She has also served as a member of the Rules and Executive Nominations Committee since 2023. Cullison served as deputy majority whip from 2013 to 2018, and as deputy speaker pro tempore from 2020 to 2023.
In August 2017, after state senator
Roger Manno announced that he would run for Congress in
Maryland's 6th congressional district
Maryland's 6th congressional district elects a representative to the United States House of Representatives from the northwest part of the state. The district comprises all of Garrett, Allegany, Frederick, and Washington counties as well as a p ...
in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
, Cullison expressed interest in running for Manno's seat in the
Maryland Senate
The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single- ...
. She ultimately decided against running, instead running for re-election and backing
Benjamin F. Kramer in the Senate election.
Personal life
Cullison is openly
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
. She is married to her wife, Marcia Massey,
who was her partner of 29 years up until Maryland
legalized same-sex marriage in 2013.
Together, they live in
Aspen Hill, Maryland
Aspen Hill is a census-designated place and an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is located 6 miles north of Washington D.C. Its population as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...
.
Political positions
Education
In 2013, Cullison voted against a bill that would give Prince George's County Executive
Rushern Baker
Rushern Leslie Baker III (born October 24, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected county executive of Prince George's County, Maryland in 2010 and won re-election in 2014. In 2018 and 2022, he ...
more control over the county's school system, including the ability to appoint its superintendent.
In August 2019, Cullison signed onto a letter calling for the
Maryland State Department of Education
Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) is a division of the state government of Maryland in the United States. The agency oversees public school districts, which are 24 local school systems—one for each of Maryland's 23 counties plus one ...
to add lessons on
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
and
disability rights
The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all people with disabilities.
It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocat ...
movements into social studies curriculum. The Department of Education agreed to update its curriculum to include this material two weeks after it was sent.
Gun policy
In April 2013, Cullison voted for the Firearm Safety Act of 2013, a bill that placed restrictions on firearm purchases and magazine capacity in
semi-automatic rifle
A semi-automatic rifle is an autoloading rifle that fires a single cartridge with each pull of the trigger, and uses part of the fired cartridge's energy to eject the case and load another cartridge into the chamber. For comparison, a bolt-act ...
s.
Health care
During the 2018 legislative session, Cullison supported a bill to ask the federal government to divert money to Maryland used to offset the cost of high-risk patients on the
Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...
's insurance pool, instead using it under a new "reinsurance program" under the
Maryland Health Benefit Exchange.
In 2019, Cullison introduced a bill to establish the Prescription Drug Affordability Board to negotiate the prices of
prescription drugs
A prescription drug (also prescription medication or prescription medicine) is a pharmaceutical drug that legally requires a medical prescription to be dispensed. In contrast, over-the-counter drugs can be obtained without a prescription. The rea ...
, which passed and became law.
During the 2023 legislative session, Cullison introduced the Access to Care Act, which would allow undocumented immigrants to buy into the state's health exchange.
Immigration
In 2017, Cullison supported the Maryland Trust Act, which would prevent the use of state and local funding for
federal immigration enforcement.
Israel
In May 2018, Cullison said she supported Governor
Larry Hogan
Lawrence Joseph Hogan Jr. (born May 25, 1956) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 62nd governor of Maryland since 2015. A moderate member of the Republican Party, he was secretary of appointments under Maryland governor Bo ...
's executive order banning the state from contracting with companies that supported the
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's obligations ...
movement.
Minimum wage
During the 2014 legislative session, Cullison voted for a bill to raise the state's minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2017.
Social issues
Cullison supported the
Civil Marriage Protection Act
Same-sex marriage in Maryland has been legally recognized since January 1, 2013. In 2012, the state's Democratic representatives, led by Governor Martin O'Malley, began a campaign for its legalization. After much debate, a law permitting same-s ...
, a bill to legalize
same-sex marriage in Maryland
Same-sex marriage in Maryland has been legally recognized since January 1, 2013. In 2012, the state's Democratic representatives, led by Governor Martin O'Malley, began a campaign for its legalization. After much debate, a law permitting same-s ...
.
During the 2011 and 2014 legislative sessions, she supported a bill to ban discrimination against
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
individuals. In 2018, she introduced a bill to ban
conversion therapy
Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cli ...
for minors, which passed and was signed into law by Governor
Larry Hogan
Lawrence Joseph Hogan Jr. (born May 25, 1956) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 62nd governor of Maryland since 2015. A moderate member of the Republican Party, he was secretary of appointments under Maryland governor Bo ...
. During the 2023 legislative session, Cullison supported the Trans Health Equity Act, a bill that would have required the state's
Medicaid
Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and pers ...
program to cover
gender-affirming treatment, which passed and was signed into law by Governor
Wes Moore
Westley Watende Omari Moore (born October 15, 1978) is an American politician, investment banker, author, and television producer. He is the governor-elect of Maryland, after defeating Republican Dan Cox in the 2022 Maryland gubernatorial ele ...
.
In September 2018, Cullison signed a letter calling for a county investigation into
sexual assault allegations made against
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
nominee
Brett Kavanaugh
Brett Michael Kavanaugh ( ; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since Oc ...
. Montgomery County law enforcement officials declined to investigate the matter unless the alleged victim filed a complaint.
![Tommy Bloom Raskin Act Press Conference - 51262425179](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Tommy_Bloom_Raskin_Act_Press_Conference_-_51262425179.jpg)
During the 2021 legislative session and following the suicide of
Jamie Raskin
Jamin Ben Raskin (born December 13, 1962) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 8th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the Maryland State Senate fr ...
's son, Tommy, Cullison introduced a bill named for Tommy that would allow people to opt into periodic calls from
2-1-1
2-1-1 is a special abbreviated telephone number reserved in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) as an easy-to-remember three-digit code to reach information and referral services to health, human, and social service organizations.
Like the ...
crisis counselors. The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Hogan.
Taxes
During the 2013 legislative session, Cullison voted for a bill to index the state's gas tax to inflation to pay for transportation projects.
Electoral history
References
External links
Campaign website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullison, Bonnie
1954 births
American trade union leaders
American lesbian politicians
LGBT state legislators in Maryland
Living people
Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates
People from Silver Spring, Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
Women state legislators in Maryland
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
21st-century American LGBT people