James J. Tarlau (born May 23, 1948) is an American politician from Maryland, a retired union organizer, and a member of the Democratic Party.

in history the same year after completing a 158-page long senior thesis titled "Postwar Reaction and the Foreign Policy of the American Labor Movement" but the suspension prevented him from participating in graduation ceremonies with his class.

[4] After winning the Democratic primary for a seat in District 47A of the Maryland House of Delegates, Tarlau retired from his union job.

[6] He ran on a progressive platform, including:[7] When a Comcast lobbyist made news by saying publicly that the incoming class of legislators was "more anti-business" than their outgoing colleagues,[8] Tarlau was one of 17 newly elected members of the House who signed a letter disputing the characterization.

His first legislative action was to introduce bill PG 417-15, which would require counties to reveal the criteria they use to calculate each municipality's tax differential.