Mike McKay (politician)

Maryland Senate

• Member, Judicial Proceedings Committee, 2023–present
• Member, Executive Nominations Committee, 2023–present
• Member, Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review, 2023–present
• Member, Joint Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, 2023–present
• Member, Joint Subcommittee on Program Open Space and Agricultural Land Preservation, 2023–present

Maryland House of Delegates

• Member, Appropriations Committee, 2015–2023 (public safety & administration subcommittee, 2015–2023; oversight committee on pensions, 2015–2017; oversight committee on personnel, 2018–2023; capital budget subcommittee, 2019–2020)
• Member, Joint Committee on Ending Homelessness, 2015–2023
• Co-Chair, Study Group on Economic Stability, 2019–2023

In October 2021, he was one of five Maryland state legislators from Garrett, Allegany and Washington counties who sent a pair of letters to West Virginia officials asking about annexation of Western Maryland to West Virginia.[12][13] These letters caused a local uproar, with Allegany County officials calling the request a political stunt, an embarrassment and unneeded distraction.[14] Following criticism from local officials and some constituents, Delegate Jason Buckel and State Senator George Edwards issued a letter withdrawing support for the secession proposal.[15]

McKay supports limiting BOOST funding to schools that don't discriminate in admissions, but opposes the elimination of BOOST, saying that it would be "discrimination in itself" and that lawmakers need to have more tolerance for funding religious schools.[16]

McKay introduced legislation during the 2016 legislative session that would bring an agricultural science curriculum to Maryland's public school systems.[17]

McKay opposed legislation introduced in the 2015 legislative session that would impose a three-year moratorium on fracking.[18]

McKay introduced legislation during the 2017 legislative session that would expand Medicaid to establish an adult dental option.[19][20] During the 2018 legislative session, he introduced a bill that would establish a pilot program for adult Medicaid dental coverage.[21] The bill passed and became law.[22] During the 2019 legislative session, McKay introduced legislation that would establish the Adult Dental Pilot Program to provide basic dental insurance to certain individuals between the ages of 21 and 64 that are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. The bill passed and became law.[23][24]

McKay supports the requirement of prevailing wages in public construction contracts.[25] He opposed legislation introduced in the 2019 legislative session that would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, saying that he was concerned about higher wages resulting in families making too much money to qualify for benefits like food stamps and subsidized housing.[26]

In September 2021, McKay attended a meeting for the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission to encourage the commission to keep Frederick County whole in its redistricting map. He also encouraged the commission to decrease the size of the state's 1st legislative district.[27]

McKay introduced legislation in the 2017 legislative session that would allow people to kill or wound black bears if one of the animals threatened a bee colony.[28] The bill passed the House of Delegates by a vote of 124-17.[29]

McKay introduced legislation in the 2019 legislative session that would place term limits on members of Congress.[30]

McKay introduced legislation in the 2015 legislative session that would lower the corporate tax rate in Washington and Allegany counties from 8.25 percent to 4 percent.[31]