Pamela E. Queen is an American politician who serves as a Delegate to 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, ...

representing Maryland's 14th Legislative District in northern Montgomery County.

Personal life

Queen was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and attended

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was d ...

, where she earned a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in mathematics. She later went on to earn two

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

in computer science and management and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in finance from the

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

. Since 2010, she has worked as a professor of finance at

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known ...

Baltimore, Maryland 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 ...

. Queen has been involved in a number of community and professional organizations.

In the legislature

In 2016, following the appointment of Delegate

Craig Zucker Craig Jason Zucker (born March 23, 1975) is an American politician who has represented District 14 in the Maryland Senate since 2016. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the district in the Maryland House of Delegates from ...

to 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- ...

, Queen, a member of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee, was appointed by that committee to serve in the House of Delegates. She is the second African American woman to represent Montgomery County in the

Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamb ...

. She was sworn in on February 26, 2016.

Committee assignments

* Member, Economic Matters Committee, 2019–present (business regulation subcommittee, 2019–present; public utilities subcommittee, 2019–present; chair, banking, consumer protection & commercial law subcommittee, 2020–present; joint electric universal service program work group, 2020–present) * Co-Chair, Study Group on Economic Stability, 2019–present * Member, Joint Electric Universal Service Program Work Group, 2020–present * Member, Judiciary Committee, 2016–2018 (criminal justice subcommittee, 2017–2018)

Other memberships

* Vice-Chair, Metro Washington Area Committee, Montgomery County Delegation, 2017–present * Member,

Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland The Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, Inc. (also known as The Maryland Legislative Black Caucus) is an American political organization composed of African Americans elected to the Maryland General Assembly. Incorporated in 1970, the Caucus m ...

, 2016–present (financial secretary, 2016–2018; treasurer, 2018–2019) * Member, Women Legislators of Maryland, 2016–present * Member, Maryland Legislative Latino Caucus, 2021–present

Political positions

Abortion

In January 2019, Queen was one of nine Maryland lawmakers to add their names to a manifesto signed by 326 state legislators to reaffirm their commitment to protecting abortion rights.

Education

Queen introduced legislation in the 2019 legislative session that would begin teaching students about

organ donation Organ donation is the process when a person allows an organ of their own to be removed and transplanted to another person, legally, either by consent while the donor is alive or dead with the assent of the next of kin. Donation may be for re ...

at the age of 14.

National politics

In September 2018, Queen called for a county investigation into sexual assault allegations made against

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

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. In December 2019, Queen attended a rally in Olney, Maryland to call for the impeachment and removal of Donald Trump.

Redistricting

In 2019, Queen co-sponsored legislation that would place a referendum to add an amendment to the

Constitution of Maryland The current Constitution of the State of Maryland, which was ratified by the people of the state on September 18, 1867, forms the basic law for the U.S. state of Maryland. It replaced the short-lived Maryland Constitution of 1864 and is the fourt ...

prohibiting partisan redistricting on the 2020 ballot.

Social issues

Queen introduced legislation in the 2019 legislative session that would provide additional

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program In the United States, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federal program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low- and no-income people. It is a federal aid program, ad ...

benefits to low-income children during summer months and winter break. The bill passed and became law on May 28, 2019. Queen introduced legislation in the 2021 legislative session that would remove the governor from the state's parole board. The bill passed the House of Delegates by a vote of 93-41.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Queen, Pamela Living people Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates 21st-century American politicians Tuskegee University alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni George Washington University School of Business alumni Morgan State University faculty 21st-century American women politicians Politicians from New York City People from Olney, Maryland 1958 births