Jennie's Biography

Jennie Forehand is a legislator who has served 16 years on the House Appropriations Committee and 9 on the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. Fighting discrimination for all members of our society, she also champions highway safety, clean air, women's rights, education, genetic privacy and health care advocacy.

As an ICC advocate, Jennie is also one of the founders of the web site: ICCYES.ORG, which provides information and keeps transportation issues "on the front burner" for citizens and public officials. She is Senate chair of the MD-DC-VA Regional Transportation Commission and of the Joint Federal Relations Committee.

Jennie also has a passion for health related issues. She was one of the first legislators in the nation to propose legislation to prevent discrimination in health insurance resulting from genetic information, which is now a law in Maryland. Her 2001 legislation extends the same protection to employment related issues, and it passed with strong support by Delegates Barve and Gordon. Her understanding and enthusiasm for putting safety mechanisms in place to prevent discrimination before it begins grew out of a 1992 conference on "Genetics for Non-Scientists" at the DNA Learning Center, Cold Spring Harbor Labs, New York, where she was the only elected official participating.

For 14 years she has been a community representative on the NIH Bio-Safety Committee. As chair of the Task Force on Genetic Technologies and Public Policy of the (NCSL) National Conference of State Legislatures, she also participated in genetic technology, ethics, and public policy study groups of the American Bar Association (Family Law Section), Georgetown University Law Center, and the HHS Office of Maternal & Child Health.

Jennie is a strong advocate for mental health services, and has given many speeches on depression, as the result of her mother's illness and recovery from severe clinical depression.

Jennie serves on the Southern Technology Council, representing the Southern Legislative Conference. Senator Forehand is past president of the Women's Legislative Network of the National Conference of State Legislature, and she was selected as one of Maryland's Top 100 Women in 1999, 2001, and 2003. Senator Forehand's legislative district includes Rockville, Gaithersburg, and Garrett Park.

Jennie Forehand was born in Nashville, Tennessee and attended University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, receiving her Bachelors of Science degree in Industrial Relations. She is a businesswoman and has been president of Forehand Antiques and Interiors since 1970. She has also served the community as a teacher, juvenile court probation counselor, and statistician.