42 Facts About James Rosapepe

James Carew Rosapepe was born on May 20,1951 and is an American politician who has served as a member of the Maryland Senate representing District 21 in since 2007.

James Rosapepe's grandparents migrated to the United States from Russia in the early 20th century.

James Rosapepe grew up in New York before moving to Arlington County, Virginia in the late 1960s, and attended Yale University as an undergraduate, but did not graduate, and Georgetown University.

James Rosapepe has been involved in politics since he was 17 years old.

James Rosapepe took a year off from attending Yale to work as an intern to the President's Council on Youth Opportunity within the Nixon administration.

James Rosapepe worked for the Maryland Committee on Federal Income Tax Conformity in 1982, and afterwards chaired the Economic Development Committee for the city of College Park, Maryland, until 1986.

James Rosapepe served as a member of the Maryland Democratic State Central Committee from 1985 to 1992, and later as the treasurer of the Maryland Democratic Party from 1985 to 1989 and as its deputy chair 1989 to 1992.

James Rosapepe served as the president of the Maryland Main Street Development Association from 1984 to 1985.

Since 2001, James Rosapepe has served as the chief executive officer of Patuxent Capital Group.

James Rosapepe has worked as a federal lobbyist for the Multistate Tax Commission.

James Rosapepe was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 3,1987.

James Rosapepe became involved with foreign policy issues during his tenure, attending an exchange trip to China in 1982 and extensively traveled to parts of the former Soviet Union.

In 1995, James Rosapepe was appointed to the Albanian-American Enterprise Fund.

James Rosapepe worked as a national treasurer for US Senator Paul Simon's 1988 presidential campaign.

James Rosapepe worked on the 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns of Bill Clinton, in which he helped organize Italian Americans behind Clinton and got to know Clinton, Al Gore, and many of their close advisors, including Sandy Berger and John Podesta.

On September 25,1997, President Bill Clinton nominated James Rosapepe to serve as the US Ambassador to Romania.

James Rosapepe was confirmed by the US Senate on November 6,1997, and was officially sworn in on January 20,1998.

James Rosapepe was the subject of an internal State Department report in which officials claimed that morale within the embassy plunged during his tenure and that the embassy often provided "inadequate" information on Romanian affairs, with communications often "tilted towards the Romanian perspective".

James Rosapepe founded the Marylanders for Access to Quality Higher Education to lobby for the legislature to override the governor's veto on the bill.

James Rosapepe defeated Giannetti in the Democratic primary with 58 percent of the vote, after which Giannetti switched his party affiliation to Republican to run against James Rosapepe in the general election.

James Rosapepe was a member of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee from 2007 to 2016, afterwards serving on the Finance Committee.

James Rosapepe has served as a member of the Budget and Taxation Committee since 2019, and as the committee's vice chair since 2020.

In January 2012, James Rosapepe expressed interest in running for comptroller of Maryland in 2014 if Peter Franchot ran for governor instead of seeking re-election.

Franchot declined to run for governor in 2014, and James Rosapepe subsequently ran for reelection to the Maryland Senate.

James Rosapepe organized groups of ethnic leaders from Central and Eastern Europe, including Wesley Clark, to support and campaign for Biden in swing states.

In September 2013, James Rosapepe expressed concerns with an Anne Arundel County Public Schools agreement that allowed school properties to be considered as possible cell site locations, which he said could affect the health of students.

In October 2018, James Rosapepe defended University of Maryland, College Park president Wallace Loh following the death of football player Jordan McNair, saying that it was "insane" that people wanted to make Loh "a scapegoat" for McNair's death.

James Rosapepe urged Loh to stay as president after he offered his retirement later that month, and celebrated Loh's decision to delay his retirement until June 2020.

In July 2012, after a derecho left more than a million residents without power for several days, James Rosapepe called for fines of $100 million against Pepco and Baltimore Gas and Electric as well as requiring utility companies to place power lines underground to prevent future outages.

James Rosapepe expressed disappointment with the Maryland Public Service Commission's decision not to place stiff fines against the utility companies in its assessment following the derecho.

In 2016, James Rosapepe introduced legislation to ban terrorists from banning firearms and supported bills banning firearms on campuses and requiring domestic abusers to surrender their guns.

James Rosapepe criticized the Maryland Department of Health's rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, accusing the agency of creating "artificial shortages" and not providing adequate constituent services.

In March 1995, James Rosapepe voted to keep restrictions on how state tax dollars could be used to pay for abortions through Medicaid.

In February 2011, after the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland, was amended to include more protections for religious groups, James Rosapepe said that he would support the bill.

James Rosapepe was seen as a key vote on the bill, and his support gave it the support it needed to pass the Maryland Senate.

In 2012, James Rosapepe voted for the Civil Marriage Protection Act.

In 2020, James Rosapepe introduced legislation to make daylight saving time permanent.

In 1997, James Rosapepe voted for a bill to provide tax credits to businesses who hire disabled people.

James Rosapepe opposed a proposal by Governor Parris Glendening to cut personal income taxes by 10 percent, preferring tax cuts aimed at middle- and lower-income families.

In 1997, James Rosapepe supported a bill to ban high-occupancy vehicle lanes on state highways, saying that the lanes made driving more difficult and less safe.

In late December 2007, James Rosapepe was struck by a car in a hit-and-run incident during a business trip in Brussels.

James Rosapepe returned to Maryland in early January 2008 with two bone fractures in his right leg.