Kumar Barve was first elected in 1990 and has been re-elected four times - in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006. He is the Majority Leader of the Maryland House of Delegates and has focused on healthcare reform and technology issues.  For 12 years, Delegate Barve was assigned to the House Committee on Economic Matters, which had jurisdiction over HMO and health insurance reform, business regulation, consumer protection, and state economic development strategy.  He served as the first Chairman of the Science & Technology Sub-Committee.   Barve was a co-sponsor and primary architect in 1993 of Maryland's landmark reform of health insurance. He was the main sponsor of Maryland's 1995 law, which allows HMO patients to use physicians outside of their HMO network.

Kumar graduated from Georgetown University in 1980 with a Bachelors Degree in Accounting. He is the chief financial officer of an environmental company in Rockville, Maryland.  Prior to his selection as Majority Leader, he was elected Chairman of the Montgomery County Delegation. In 2000, Barve was the prime architect of the landmark Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) that provides consumer and business protection.

Barve's grandfather, Shankar L. Gokhale, was the President of Holkar College in India who immigrated to the United States in 1911. Barve's mother, Neera, was born in Schenectady, New York.  His father, Prabhakar Barve, came to the U.S. in 1957 after studying architecture at the Hammersmith School of Building in London, England. Kumar is married to Maureen, an attorney, who was appointed by former Governor Parris Glendening to serve as a member of the Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission.

To learn more about Delegate Barve visit http://www.kumarbarve.com/