Bryan Warner Simonaire (born September 6, 1963) is an American politician who serves as a Maryland state senator representing District 31, which encompasses much of northern Anne Arundel County's Baltimore suburbs.

The amendment was introduced after state Delegate Don H. Dwyer Jr. was stripped of his voting powers and committee assignments after being sentenced to 30 weekends in jail for driving under the influence.

[10] In 2016, Simonaire introduced the "Dwyer amendment", which would have prevented Senate president Thomas V. Miller Jr. from removing a member's voting powers.

[14][17] In 2009, Simonaire said he would vote to repeal the death penalty if legislators passed a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Maryland.

[22] Simonaire opposes the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, calling for its repeal during the 2021 legislative session and comparing them to the Bridge of Excellence education reforms in 2002.

[25] During the 2011 legislative session, Simonaire said he opposed Maryland's Dream Act, a bill that extended in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants.

[26] During the 2022 legislative session, Simonaire introduced a bill that would force the county Board of Education to vote on certain curriculum items if a petition got the signatures of at least three percent of parents.

[33][34] He also supported a bill to shift control of local election boards to whichever party had a majority of registered voters in each jurisdiction,[35] and sought to amend a bill to expand early voting centers to require local boards of elections to consider "geographical distance" in deciding where to locate early voting centers.

[46] During the 2021 legislative session, Simonaire expressed concern with the Climate Solutions Now Act, which he said would force jurisdictions to choose between planting more trees and protecting local sewage projects.

[47] After it was reintroduced in 2022, he objected to provisions that would require large buildings to become carbon neutral by 2040[48] and expressed that legislators should instead focus on climate solutions "starting at the regional level".

[60][61] In 2022, Simonaire downplayed the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, calling it a "Democratic ploy" to energize voters.

[51] During the 2018 legislative session, Simonaire spoke against a bill to ban conversion therapy on minors, arguing that it would dissuade teens from seeking counseling.

[72] His daughter, Meagan, a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, spoke in support of the bill and accused her father of seeking conversion therapy for her after she came out as bisexual in 2015.

[73] Simonaire disputed his daughter's story in interviews with the media, saying that he had recommended her Christian counseling after she approached him for advice with her depression and anxiety,[74][75] but added that he disagreed with her "lifestyle".