Michael Erin Busch (January 4, 1947 – April 7, 2019) was an American politician, teacher, and college football player who served as the 106th speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates from 2003 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented the 30th district from 1987 to 2011, afterwards representing District 30A until 2019. The district encompassed parts of Anne Arundel County including the state capital of Annapolis.
Busch was born in Baltimore and raised in Annapolis. After graduating from St. Mary's High School, he played college football at Temple University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education. After graduating, he became a high school history teacher and sports coach at his alma mater. Busch was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1986 and reelected in 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018. In 2002, after House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. lost reelection, Busch was elected Speaker, serving in this position until his death in 2019.
Busch was the longest-serving House speaker in the history of Maryland. During his tenure, Busch was a major opponent to Governor Bob Ehrlich's efforts to reform Maryland's medical malpractice laws and bring casino gambling to the state. He then helped pass many of Governor Martin O'Malley's priority bills, including strict gun control laws, the repeal of capital punishment, and the legalization of same-sex marriage in Maryland. He also oversaw increases to the state's education funding, environmental protections, and the expansion of health care coverage.
Early life and education Michael Erin Busch was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on January 4, 1947. He is of Irish descent.
Busch's father, Larry, was an successful attorney. In 1975, Larry, without explanation, abandoned his family and moved to Las Vegas, where he lived out his days as a small-time card sharp in casinos. After this, Busch's mother, Patricia Jean Busch, began working at the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration and raised her three daughters as a single mother. Larry would not speak to his family again until 1990, when he called Mike, now a state delegate, to organize a family reunion. Larry Busch died on November 4, 1997.
Busch grew up in Glen Burnie before moving to Annapolis as a teenager. He graduated from St. Mary's High School, where he played football, basketball, and lacrosse. Busch's performance as a running back at St. Mary's caught the attention of Navy Midshipmen football coach Bill Elias, who wanted Busch to play alongside quarterback Roger Staubach. Busch didn't have the grades or will to enter the United States Naval Academy, which led Elias to suggest he attend Temple University. Busch did a prep year at Severn School before attending Temple, where he played as a running back for the Temple Owls football team for two seasons. During the 1967 season, he set Temple single-game records with 176 rushing yards on 38 carries against Bucknell, led the Mid-American Conference in rushing, and was named first team All-Conference and All-East. Busch was pursued by the New York Giants, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, and Baltimore Colts as a running back; however, during Temple's 1968 season, he suffered a career-ending knee injury in the second game against Wayne State. Busch graduated from Temple with a Bachelor of Science in education in 1970.
Career Early career After graduating from Temple in 1970, Busch unsuccessfully ran for the Maryland Democratic State Central Committee.
Busch worked as a history teacher and sports coach for St. Mary's High School from 1973 to 1979, afterwards working as the administrator for youth athletics for the Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks at the behest of Anne Arundel County executive Robert A. Pascal. Pascal was close friends with Busch's father and quickly became a mentor to Busch. In 2003, Busch was reported to the county Ethics Commission after receiving large raises from Anne Arundel County executive Janet S. Owens following the passage of legislation introduced by Busch that directed $250,000 in state funds toward new ballfields in the county. After the report, he requested an opinion from Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr.'s office, which ruled that the county could not restrict Busch's activities in the legislature. Anne Arundel County attorney Linda Schuett affirmed the attorney general's office's opinion, writing to ethics officials that any attempt to regulate Busch's actions in the General Assembly would constitute improper local interference with state government. Busch retired from the Recreation and Parks Department in December 2018.
Maryland House of Delegates Busch ran unsuccessfully for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 30 in 1982, placing fifth in the 12-way Democratic primary. He ran for the seat again in 1986, placing third in the Democratic primary with 16 percent of the vote, and defeated Republican challengers John Hammond, David Kelly, and Frank McClanahan in the general election with 19.1 percent of the vote.
Busch was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 14, 1987. He was a member of the Judiciary Committee from 1987 to 1991, afterwards serving on the Economic Matters Committee until his election as speaker. He also served as a deputy majority whip during the 1993 legislative session. In February 1991, Busch was elected to serve as the chair of the Anne Arundel County Delegation, succeeding John Astle, who resigned as chair after being called up by the U.S. Marines to serve in Operation Desert Storm. He served as the delegation's chair until 1994. Busch was an early supporter of Casper R. Taylor Jr. in the 1994 speaker election, who then appointed Busch as the chair of the Economic Matters Committee in 1994. During his tenure as chair, Busch oversaw the passage of a 10 percent state income tax cut, environmental protection measures, and strengthened regulations of health maintenance organizations.
In the legislature, Busch gained a reputation as a steady if unspectacular lawmaker who rarely made mistakes. He was given the nickname "Coach" because of his background as a former high school football and basketball coach, his rugged appearance, and his conciliatory and compromising legislative style. Busch served as a mentor to several younger members of the legislature, including some Republicans, and would often deliberately leave his name off of legislation to avoid alienating people by seeming to forgo his role as a fair broker.
In November 1991, Busch joined a bipartisan group of legislators in filing a lawsuit against the state's congressional map. Busch opposed the map, saying that it improperly split established communities in Anne Arundel County, such as Crofton and Ferndale. A federal appeals court upheld the redistricting plan in a 2–1 ruling in December 1991, after which legislators appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld the congressional map in an 8–1 decision in May 1992.
In 1999, Governor Parris Glendening appointed Busch to a task force to review the Injured Workers Insurance Fund (IWIF). During the 2000 legislative session, he introduced legislation to implement many of the task force's recommendations. The bill included a provision added by Busch that would exempt the IWIF from both public records and public meetings laws, which was removed from the final version of the bill. In May 2000, Busch told The Baltimore Sun that he was a finalist in the search for a new executive director of the IWIF, a position that would require him to resign from the Maryland House of Delegates. In June 2000, he announced that he had withdrawn as a candidate for the IWIF position and would continue serving in the legislature.
In the 2006 Maryland House of Delegates elections, the Maryland Republican Party targeted Busch and Virginia P. Clagett. Both delegates won re-election that year, with Busch placing first in the general election with 17.1 percent of the vote. The Republican Party targeted Busch and Clagett again in 2010, this time unseating Clagett while Busch won re-election. In 2014, Busch was redrawn into District 30A, where he won re-election alongside Republican incumbent Herbert H. McMillan.
Speaker of the House of Delegates
In May 2000, The Baltimore Sun described Busch as the frontrunner to become the next speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates should Casper R. Taylor Jr. leave the legislature. Taylor lost his re-election bid in the 2002 Maryland House of Delegates elections, after which Busch entered the race to succeed him. He faced competition from Pete Rawlings, who dropped out of the race and endorsed Busch after Busch announced that he had gained the support of a majority of the Democratic members of the House. House Democrats elected Busch to be the speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates on December 4, 2002. A few days later, he announced a series of leadership changes that increased the number of Black state delegates in key positions, including Adrienne A. Jones as speaker pro tempore and Dereck E. Davis as his successor as the chair of the House Economic Matters Committee. Busch also abolished the Commerce and Government Matters Committee and replaced it with a Health and Health Insurance Committee. He was officially sworn in as speaker on January 8, 2003.
Busch was a significantly more progressive speaker than Taylor, moving steadily to the left throughout his tenure. Sworn in as Republican Governor Bob Ehrlich took office, Busch quickly became the leading opponent to Ehrlich's push to bring casino gambling to Maryland, citing his personal opposition to slots and describing the governor's proposals as a giveaway to the racetracks. For the remainder of his governorship, Ehrlich was unable to forge a plan that Busch and his Senate counterpart, Thomas V. Miller Jr., could agree on, and legislation to legalize slots would not pass until his successor, Martin O'Malley, took office in 2007. Still, Busch continued to hold a negative view of gambling and is ability to alleviate the state's budget woes, holding firm in opposing the expansion of gambling to include casinos, including one likely to be located in Prince George's County, where Miller's district was located.
Busch shepherded through the House some of the O'Malley administration's major legislative initiatives, including strict gun control laws, the DREAM Act, the repeal of capital punishment, and the legalization of same-sex marriage in Maryland. He also oversaw increases to the state's education funding, environmental protections, and the expansion of health care coverage, and used his position in the Maryland General Assembly to push for local projects and causes in Anne Arundel County. He was a delegate to the 2012 Democratic National Convention, pledged to President Barack Obama.