Sen. Antonio Hayes, a Democrat from Baltimore, will chair the Maryland Senate’s Finance Committee, becoming the first Black man to lead the panel. Senate President Bill Ferguson announced the pick Thursday in a news release that reshuffled committee leadership ahead of the 2027 session.
Hayes, a West Baltimore native, takes the gavel from Pamela Beidle, an Anne Arundel County Democrat who is leaving the legislature after 20 years. Beidle did not run for reelection this year, and said stepping away was not an easy decision. Hayes has served as the committee’s vice chair since 2025. He was elected to the Senate in 2018 after one term in the House of Delegates.
The committee handles Senate bills on health care, insurance, business and labor, the subjects that decide what Black Marylanders pay for care and coverage and what work is available to them. The person who sets its agenda decides which of those bills get a hearing.
As the Baltimore Times first reported, Hayes is the first Baltimore City lawmaker to hold the post since 2002, and his stated priorities are health care affordability, economic opportunity and workforce development.
It is a promotion from inside the committee. The General Assembly returns to Annapolis in January.
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