Joseline Peña-Melnyk

Party: Democratic

District: Maryland Legislative District 21

Joseline Peña-Melnyk is the highest-ranking Latina in the Maryland General Assembly and currently serves as House Speaker. Born in the Dominican Republic, she became a U.S. citizen in 1983 and was raised by a single mother who worked in New York's garment industry. She was the first in her family to graduate from college and has built a career dedicated to justice, healthcare access, and equity.

She is a devoted wife and mother of three children—one son, Camilo, and twin daughters, Alejandra and Katerina—and resides in College Park with her husband, Markian Melnyk, her law school sweetheart.

Education

Peña-Melnyk graduated from Buffalo State, where she studied criminal justice. She attended law school at the State University of New York at Buffalo on an equal opportunity scholarship, graduating in 1991 with a focus on criminal law.

Political Experience

Early Legal Career

After law school, Peña-Melnyk worked as an attorney at the Philadelphia Public Defender Service and later moved to the Washington, D.C. area. She served as a guardian for children in the foster care system, worked as a court-appointed defense attorney, and served as an Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting criminal cases.

Local Office

She was elected to the College Park City Council in 2003 and won re-election in 2005 before launching her state campaign.

Maryland House of Delegates

Elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2006, Peña-Melnyk has become one of Maryland's most effective legislators, passing over 100 bills into law, many of them firsts in the nation. She currently serves as Chair of the Health and Government Operations Committee.

Notable Achievements

Her major legislative accomplishments include:

• Creating the Prescription Drug Affordability Board
• Leading passage of the Maryland Easy Enrollment Health Insurance Program
• Ensuring continuation of Maryland's state-operated reinsurance program
• Driving the creation of the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the first statewide initiative in the United States investigating historical racial terror lynchings
• Championing the Shirley Nathan-Pulliam Health Equity Act, which established the Maryland Commission on Health Equity

National Recognition

She received the John S. Martínez Legislator of the Year Award from the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators in 2018 for her leadership and consensus-building on complex policy matters including cannabis and gun reform. She is a founding member of the Maryland Legislative Latino Caucus and holds membership in the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, Women Legislators of Maryland Caucus, and Veterans Caucus.