ABOUT SPEAKER CUMMINGS

Speaker Glenn Cummings
Biography

Speaker Glenn Cummings is the 98th Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives and a fourth term Representative from Portland. Elected unanimously as Speaker, he presides over all the actions of the House of Representatives.

As Speaker of the House, Cummings has built a culture of political cooperation that has led to the passage of the largest economic investment bond package in Maine’s history; the passage of a bi-partisan state budget; increased funding for higher education; passage of a first-in-the-nation bill requiring college applications to be a part of the high school curriculum, and passage of one of the country’s most aggressive and comprehensive anti-predatory lending laws.

A twelfth generation Mainer, Cummings was born and raised in the town of Bath. He graduated from Morse High School and was the first member of his family to graduate from college. He studied history at Ohio-Weslyan University, before earning a masters in Education at Brown University and a masters in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

A passionate educator, Speaker Cummings has spent much career working with students in the classroom, or working on education policy as a state leader. Currently he is a professor of economics and entrepreneurship at Southern Maine Community College. He founded SMCC’s Entrepreneurial Center, dedicated to fostering and supporting student entrepreneurial growth, and served as the Center’s first Director. Previously, he worked as a high school civics teacher and as the Director of Portland Partnerships, an educational non-profit group that builds relationships between public schools and local businesses.

In his third term of legislative service, Cummings was elected as the Democratic Leader of the House of Representatives. During his leadership term he helped to secure the largest increase in education funding and property tax relief in Maine’s history.

In his second legislative term, Cummings served as Chair of the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee, where he led in the creation of a statewide school funding formula that brought a new focus on the needs of local students. As a freshman lawmaker, he was awarded Maine Medical Assoc. Legislator of the year for passage of a law requiring lead poisoning screenings for all Maine children, after a routine test found his own son suffered from dangerously high lead levels as a result of home renovations.

Cummings also holds the distinction of being the first clean election candidate in the country. He lives in Portland with his wife Leslie Appelbaum and their two children.