Born in Salisbury, Maryland, January 11, 1942, Delegate Conway graduated from Salisbury State College in 1965 with a B.S. in education. He became an elementary school teacher at Pinehurst School in Salisbury. While teaching he continued his education, earning a Master's degree in education administration. He was promoted to the position of vice-principal, then to principal at Pinehurst. While working at Pinehurst Conway ran for political office, winning a seat on the Salisbury City Council in 1974. He was later elected the council's president by its members and served in this position from 1982 to 1987.
In the Legislature
Conway was vice-chairman of the Appropriations committee when his chairman and mentor, Howard "Pete" Rawlings died and Speaker Michael E. Busch named Conway chairman of the House's most powerful committee. As Appropriations chairman, he oversees the state's 30 billion dollar budget and is also a member of the Spending Affordability Committee, the Rules and Executive Nominations Committee, and the Legislative Policy Committee. Prior to joining the Appropriations committee in 1991 he was a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.
voted for the Maryland Gang Prosecution Act of 2007, subjecting gang members to up to 20 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $100,000
voted for Jessica's Law, eliminating parole for the most violent child sexual predators and creating a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in state prison, 2007
voted for Public Safety – Statewide DNA Database System – Crimes of Violence and Burglary – Post conviction, helping to give police officers and prosecutors greater resources to solve crimes and eliminating a backlog of 24,000 unanalyzed DNA samples, leading to 192 arrests, 2008
voted for Vehicle Laws – Repeated Drunk and Drugged Driving Offenses – Suspension of License, strengthening Maryland's drunk driving laws by imposing a mandatory one year license suspension for a person convicted of drunk driving more than once in five years, 2009
voted for HB 102, creating the House Emergency Medical Services System Workgroup, leading to Maryland's budgeting of $52 million to fund three new Medevac helicopters to replace the State's aging fleet, 2009
For the past four years, Delegate Conway has annually voted to support classroom teachers, public schools, police and hospitals in Wicomico and Worcester Counties. Since 2002, funding to schools across the State has increased 82%, resulting in Maryland being ranked top in the nation for K-12 education.
