Shaneka Tarae Johnson (born July 29, 1983) is a Democratic 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, ...

appointed in May 2019 to replace the late

Michael E. Busch Michael Erin “Coach” Busch (January 4, 1947 – April 7, 2019) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 106th Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates from 2003 until his death in 2019. Busch was a mem ...

. In October 2019 House Speaker

Adrienne A. Jones Adrienne A. Jones (born November 20, 1954) is the Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates, the first African-American and first woman to serve in that position in Maryland. Initially appointed by Governor Parris Glendening to fill the vacancy ...

assigned Henson to serve on the appropriations committee led by

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 ...

Democrat Del.

Maggie McIntosh Margaret L. "Maggie" McIntosh (born December 22, 1947) is an American politician from the state of Maryland. She was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1993 to 2023. She is a former Baltimore City Public School teacher who now chai ...

. Henson was previously a member of the Annapolis City Council representing Ward 6 from December 4, 2017, to April 29, 2019. In June 2017 Henson was endorsed by the Maryland League of Conservation Voters followed by a coveted endorsement from the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...

Maryland Chapter in October 2017.

Committee appointments

Henson's committee appointments have been Ways and Means Committee, 2023-; Joint Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, 2023-; Appropriations Committee, 2019-23. Henson moved from Appropriations to Ways and Means in 2023, swapping assignments with Del. Dana Jones when questions were raised about a potential conflict of interest involving Henson's legal work for a nonprofit which received state funding.

Legislation

In 2020, Henson sponsored a bill that took effect October 1, 2020, that would allow incarcerated parents to have their

child support Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is paid d ...

order frozen while behind bars if they are serving a jail sentence of six months or more. Prior to the law's passing, the threshold was 18 months. Henson introduced a bill co-sponsored in the Maryland Senate by Democrat Sen. Sarah K. Elfreth that took effect October 1, 2020, to close a loophole in state law allowing the City of

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

to avoid the responsibility of inspecting and licensing

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

units like other rentals in the city. In July 2020, Henson made a pitch to Maryland's congressional delegation for federal legislation to recognize

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

as a public health trauma and to implement supports for her constituents and all

Black Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

Career

In 2020, Henson founded Johnson Legal Group, LLC, a

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

based in Annapolis, MD where she is Principal Legal Counsel. Henson previously worked as an attorney in the Maryland Office of

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

for Maryland Attorney General

Doug Gansler Douglas Friend Gansler (born October 30, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 45th Attorney General of Maryland. Gansler previously served as the State's Attorney for Montgomery County, Maryland, from 1999 to 2007. He won ...

from 2013 to 2014 and for Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh from 2014 to 2019. Henson was previously an attorney for the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County where she represented women and men fleeing domestic abuse.

Groups and Organizations

Henson is a member of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland and Women's

Caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

of Maryland. Henson is an alumni and supporter of Emerge Maryland, a statewide organization to recruit, train and empower Democrat women to run for office. Henson is a board member for Maryland Food Bank.

References

Living people Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates Coppin State University alumni University of Baltimore School of Law alumni 1983 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Women state legislators in Maryland African-American city council members in Maryland Women city councillors in Maryland Maryland city council members Annapolis City Council members {{Maryland-politician-stub