Benjamin F. Kramer
Member of theMaryland Senate from the19th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 9, 2019
Preceded by	Roger Manno
Member of theMaryland House of Delegates from the 19th district
In office January 10, 2007 – January 9, 2019
Preceded by	Carol S. Petzold
Succeeded by	Charlotte Crutchfield
Personal details
Born	(1957-03-05)March 5, 1957 (age 68) Wheaton, Maryland, U.S.
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Tammy
Children	3
Parent	Sidney Kramer (father)
Relatives	Rona E. Kramer (sister)
Signature

Benjamin F. Kramer (born March 5, 1957) is an American politician who has served as a member of theMaryland Senate representingDistrict 19 since 2019. A member of theDemocratic Party, Kramer previously represented the district in theMaryland House of Delegates from 2007 to 2019.

Kramer was born inWheaton, Maryland on March 5, 1957.^[1] He was one of three children born to fatherSidney Kramer, who would later serve as a state senator andMontgomery County Executive, and mother Betty Mae. Kramer's sister,Rona, would later serve as a state senator and asMaryland Secretary of Aging from 2015 to 2023.^[2] He attendedMontgomery County public schools, graduating fromJohn F. Kennedy High School, and later attended theUniversity of Maryland, College Park, where he received aBachelor of Arts degree in law enforcement in 1979.^[1]

Kramer owns the Wheaton Speedy Car Wash^[3] and a real estate business.^[2] He was a member of the Montgomery County Liquor Control Task Force and the Montgomery County Police Department Citizens Advisory Board.^[1]

In 1994, Kramer unsuccessfully ran for the Montgomery County Council,^[4] losing to incumbentRepublican county councilwoman Nancy Dacek in the general election.^[5] He ran for an at-large seat on the county council in 1998,^[6] during which he was defeated in the Democratic primary, placing seventh in the eight-way primary.^[7]

In 2006, Kramer ran for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 19. He won the Democratic primary on September 12, placing third with 14 percent of the vote and edging out his opponent, Paul Griffin, by a margin of 307 votes.^[8] He was sworn in on January 10, 2007. Kramer was a member of the Judiciary Committee from 2007 to 2010, afterwards serving in the Economic Matters Committee for the remainder of his tenure.^[1]

In 2009, Kramer unsuccessfully ran in the Montgomery County Council District 4 special election, in which he was defeated byNancy Navarro.^[9]

In August 2017, a day after state SenatorRoger Manno announced that he wouldrun for Congress inMaryland's 6th congressional district in 2018, Kramer announced that he would seek to succeed Manno in the Maryland Senate.^[10] He ran unopposed in both the primary and defeatedGreen Party nominee David Jeang general election,^[11][12] and was sworn in on January 9, 2019. Kramer has served as a member of the Finance Committee during his entire tenure.^[1]

Kramer is amoderate Democrat^[13] who has been described byMaryland Matters as "more pro-business than most of his Democratic colleagues".^[14]

Kramer supports providingprivate schools with state funding.^[15]

During the 2019 legislative session, Kramer introduced a bill to expandHolocaust instruction in schools. After the bill died in committee, he penned a letter to theMaryland Department of Education asking the agency to elaborate its requirements for Holocaust education, led to the agency requiring lessons on the Holocaust in fourth- and fifth-grade social studies classes.^[16] The bill was reintroduced in 2023 along with another bill that would set aside $500,000 annually to fund school field trips to museums dedicated to teaching about the Holocaust or African American history.^[17]

In 2021, Kramer introduced legislation that would require the chancellor of theUniversity System of Maryland to act on the behalf of all the system's institutions in all aspects ofcollective bargaining,^[18] and supported another bill to extend collective bargaining rights to Maryland community college employees.^[19] Both bills passed and became law.^[20]

During the 2011 legislative session, Kramer expressed concerns with the costs of a bill to incentivizewind energy development in Maryland.^[21] He voted for the bill when was reintroduced in 2012.^[22]

In 2018, Kramer introduced legislation that would placeeconomic sanctions onPennsylvania for upstream pollution in theChesapeake Bay by limiting Maryland's ability to enter into procurement contracts with companies that have not been meetingU.S. Environmental Protection Agency Chesapeake Bay cleanup goals.^[23]

During the 2020 legislative session, Kramer introduced legislation to levy acarbon tax on corporate polluters, which would charge $15 per metric ton ofcarbon dioxide emitted from non-transportation fossil fuel combustion.^[24][25] He reintroduced the bill in 2021, during which it was defeated in committee.^[26]

In 2021, Kramer introduced a bill that would require theMaryland Public Service Commission to considerclimate change while reviewing applications for new generating facilities.^[27] In 2022, he introduced legislation that would require counties developclimate change mitigation plans.^[28] The bill was reintroduced in 2023.^[29]

Kramer is a self-describedZionist^[30] who has described theBoycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as antisemitic.^[15]

In December 2013, following theAmerican Studies Association's boycott of Israel, Kramer wrote to GovernorMartin O'Malley asking him to prevent state funding from going toward organizations that supported the boycott.^[31] During the 2014 legislative session, he unsuccessfully sought to place financial penalties on theUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore County for supporting theAmerican Studies Association,^[32] despite UMBC saying that it would end its affiliation with the ASA.^[31] The legislature instead opted to pass a resolution condemning the BDS movement, making Maryland the first state to do so,^[33] which Kramer said was "not the victory we should have had".^[15] Kramer's anti-BDS bill was also condemned by ArchbishopDesmond Tutu, who issued a statement expressing "grave concern" over the effort and with Kramer's comparison between BDS andNazi Germany.^[34][35] During the 2017 legislative session, Kramer introduced a bill that would prohibit the state from contracting with companies that support the BDS movement.^[33][36] After the bill failed to pass, GovernorLarry Hogan signed an executive order codifying it into law.^[37]

In July 2019, Kramer wrote a letter to theTakoma Park city council and mayor Kate Stewart condemning the city's screening ofThe Occupation of the American Mind, a documentary which he described as antisemitic.^[38]

In November 2023, Kramer led a letter signed by eight other state senators that threatened to defund immigrants rights groupCASA de Maryland because it had called for an immediate ceasefire in theGaza war and condemned the "utilization of US tax dollars to promote the ongoing violence".^[39] He called CASA's subsequent apology a "good first step" but added that "there's still work to be done".^[40][41] In December 2024, Kramer condemned Maryland SenatorChris Van Hollen for his criticism of Israel's handling of the Israel–Hamas war and for voting for bills to block somemilitary aid to Israel. He also argued that opponents of Israel were attacking the country's legitimacy through propaganda and misinformation after failing to destroy it militarily, and accused Van Hollen of "buying into the relentless propaganda campaign that is being orchestrated by Israel's enemies and the Jew-haters across the world".^[42]

During the 2018 legislative session and in response toPeter Franchot's "Reform on Tap" efforts, Kramer introduced legislation creating a task force to study which agency is best suited to regulate the alcohol industry in Maryland.^[43] As a member of the task force, Kramer criticized Franchot for not including any advocates for public health or public safety in his task force to craft the Reform on Tap proposals,^[44] which the committee voted 17–4 to reject later that year^[45] and recommended removing theComptroller of Maryland's ability to regulate the alcohol industry.^[46] During the 2019 legislative session, Kramer introduced legislation to do so,^[47][48] which passed and became law.^[49]

In February 2019, Franchot accused Kramer of being "corrupt" and having a conflict of interest by introducing the bill, noting that his family's real estate business rents space to a county-owned retail alcohol outlet. Kramer rejected these accusations and subsequently accused Franchot of takingcampaign contributions from the alcohol industry that influenced his "Reform on Tap" proposals, which Franchot denied.^[50][51][52] While testifying on the bill later that month, Kramer compared Franchot toBernie Madoff in claiming that he had "extorted" campaign contributions from liquor lobbyists, which Len Foxwell, Franchot's chief of staff, called "beyond offensive" and "slanderous", and led Franchot to file an ethics complaint against Kramer.^[53][54] Kramer criticized GovernorLarry Hogan for appointing Foxwell to the alcohol commission, which he called a "political favor".^[55][56]

In November 2025, Kramer said he opposed redrawing Maryland's congressional districts to makeMaryland's 1st congressional district more favorable for Democrats in response toRepublican mid-decade redistricting efforts in various red states, citing the risk of losing seats to Republicans or the courts tossing out new maps.^[57]

During the 2016 legislative session and following the death of Noah Leotta, a Montgomery County police officer who was killed by a drunk driver while on DUI patrol, Kramer introduced a bill to expand the use ofbreathalyzers,^[58] which passed and was signed into law by GovernorLarry Hogan.^[59]

During the 2018 legislative session, Kramer introduced a bill that would prohibit retail pet stores from selling puppies and kittens, which passed and was signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan.^[60] In May 2022, he participated in and spoke at a protest against Inotiv, a drug research firm headquartered in Montgomery County, after theHumane Society of the United States released a video accusing the firm of mistreating and killing thousands of animals in its studies.^[61][62]

During the 2019 legislative session, Kramer introduced a bill creating a program that would have theMaryland Department of Aging perform daily check-in calls to seniors and notify guardians if they do not answer the call. The bill passed and became law, and was implemented in January 2020.^[63] In 2022, he opposed a bill that would set restrictions on who thegovernor of Maryland could appoint as Maryland Secretary of Aging, which he called a "slippery slope".^[64]

In July 2020, after GovernorLarry Hogan announced plans to hold a full in-person election forMaryland's general elections, Kramer participated in and spoke at aCASA de Maryland rally protesting Hogan's decision, where he accused the governor of prioritizing his autobiography over Maryland's right to vote.^[65][66] During the 2021 legislative session, he introduced a bill that would allow voters to opt into a list that allows them to receive mail-in ballots for every future election,^[19] which passed and became law.^[67]

During the 2023 legislative session, Kramer introduced legislation that would allow victims of hate crimes to sue their perpetrators to recoup emotional and financial damages.^[17]

During the 2023 legislative session, Kramer opposed a bill that would raise taxes onOcean City hotels by one percent, expressing concerns that the bill would increase tourism to beaches in Delaware or New Jersey.^[68]

Kramer is married to his wife, Tammy. Together, they have three children.^[3] He isJewish.^[69] Kramer's nephews, Brandon and Lance, were the director and producer for the 2021 documentaryThe First Step.^[70]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBenjamin F. Kramer.

• "Benjamin F. Kramer, Maryland State Senator".Maryland Manual Online. Maryland State Archives. January 24, 2023. RetrievedApril 16, 2023.
• "Members – Senator Benjamin F. Kramer".Maryland General Assembly. April 13, 2023. RetrievedApril 17, 2023.

• 1957 births
• Living people
• 21st-century American Jews
• American Zionists
• Businesspeople from Maryland
• Democratic Party Maryland state senators
• Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates
• Jewish state legislators in Maryland
• People from Wheaton, Maryland
• University of Maryland, College Park alumni
• 21st-century members of the Maryland General Assembly

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from April 2023
• Commons category link from Wikidata