ANNAPOLIS — On her desk in the Maryland State House, a Bible sits within reach of Sen. Mary Beth Carozza.
“It’s a lens that I look through,” said Carozza, a Republican who represents District 38, which includes Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties in Maryland. “You have to serve everyone. You have to work with everyone. And you never want to be pigeonholed on any one issue.”
The path to the General Assembly for the Baltimore native included studies at The Catholic University of America, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in political philosophy and a master’s degree in American government before she began her career on Capitol Hill and later worked in the U.S. Department of Defense.
From 2001 to 2003, she served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs at the Pentagon under Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. On Sept. 11, 2001, she was inside the building when American Airlines Flight 77 struck it after being hijacked by terrorists. She has since described the experience as life-changing and said her faith sustained her in the days that followed.
Years later in Annapolis, she continues to emphasize public safety as government’s first responsibility.
“I believe public safety is priority number one,” she said. “Being safe in your home, your neighborhood, your community.”
Her commitment extends beyond floor votes. In her district, she regularly supports first responders, whom she calls the backbone of local communities.
Carozza’s work this session also includes legislation affecting families across Maryland, including those in Montgomery, Prince George’s, St. Mary’s, Charles and Calvert counties.
For six consecutive sessions, she has introduced legislation aimed at strengthening standards for child custody evaluators in cases involving allegations of domestic violence or child abuse.
Senate Bill 222 would require minimum qualifications and specialized training for evaluators in those cases. Carozza said the proposal has evolved in response to feedback from the judiciary and other stakeholders.
“You have to have faith and persistence,” she said. “If you truly believe something is right, you keep working through it.”
This year, the bill cleared the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee unanimously, the farthest it has advanced since she first introduced it.
The judiciary has maintained that evaluator standards can be addressed through court rules. Carozza has argued that placing requirements in statute provides greater consistency.
“When something is in statute, it is required,” she said.
She has also focused attention on Maryland’s Developmental Disabilities Administration, combining budget advocacy with oversight of service delivery as lawmakers debate proposed reductions in funding.
Developmental Disabilities Day at the Legislature was held Feb. 18, 2026, drawing families to Annapolis to advocate for service stability. Carozza later joined members of the Eastern Shore delegation at a rally highlighting concerns about proposed reductions and calls for structural reform.
“These services are critically important to individuals with disabilities and their families,” she said.
In a Feb. 28 Facebook post, Carozza wrote that members of the delegation opposed what she described as Gov. Wes Moore’s proposed $155.4 million in reductions affecting developmental disability services.
“Budgets are about priorities,” she wrote.
This session, Carozza also sponsored Senate Bill 302, which would create a criminal offense for knowingly causing a pregnant person to ingest an abortion-inducing drug without consent through fraud, coercion, force or threat of force.
“That is very narrow. Very specific,” she said.
The originally proposed 25-year penalty was reduced to 10 years as the bill moved through committee.
She also introduced Senate Bill 485, requiring the Maryland Department of Health to collect and publish comprehensive women’s health data, including information on prenatal care, childbirths, postpartum services and abortions.
“If we don’t have reliable data, we cannot make informed policy decisions,” she said.
Carozza said improved reporting would provide lawmakers with clearer information about costs, trends and health outcomes, particularly in light of disparities in maternal health outcomes.
“This legislation does not restrict a woman from having an abortion. It does not change the legality of abortion in Maryland,” she said.
Instead, she framed Senate Bill 302 as addressing coercion and penalties for those who force women to ingest abortion-inducing drugs, and Senate Bill 485 as promoting transparency in women’s health policy.
The Maryland Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s Catholic bishops in legislative advocacy, has supported Senate Bills 302 and 485 and has long advocated for strong services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The conference has not yet taken a formal position on the child custody evaluator bill.
Despite her federal and state experience, Carozza’s personal roots remain in Ocean City. She attends St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church, the same parish where she grew up and where her mother once taught Sunday school. Today, she serves there as a catechist.
As the interview drew to a close, she turned from legislation to family. Both of her parents are now in their 80s, she said, and her mother has begun experiencing memory loss. She is spending more time with them on weekends when she returns from Annapolis.
Before leaving for the State House each week, she writes a note listing the prayer intentions that will be offered at a weekly General Assembly prayer caucus and leaves it for her parents so they can pray along from home. She smiled and said, “They are both still fun.”
“It’s never about just one issue,” she said. “It’s about living my faith and applying it across all areas in the best way I can serve my constituents.”
