Political scientist David Lublin, who hosts the long-running blog Seventh State, has a look at the state of play among the two major parties in Maryland. In blogs posted late last week and today, he runs down the changes and shifting political loyalties of Marylanders across this very diverse state.

Veto overrides were the big news out of Annapolis last week -- Last week’s Special Legislative Session had both some exciting and disheartening outcomes. While some crucial bills had successful veto overrides, other important legislation was tabled indefinitely - essentially meaning it was taken off the table entirely. Read below to learn more about the veto overrides we are celebrating and why there is much more work to be done in the 2022 Session in hopes to make up for some truly disappointing losses this year. 

Speaking of 2022, election campaigns are well underway and there are plenty of opportunities to get involved with progressive candidates! This and much more in the memo.

A forest of veto override activity "in Annapolis" contrasts sharply with continued gridlock in DC -- though a few flowers are blooming amid the carnage. We round up what has been going on in these seats of power and how progressives can work to forward good things in both. A summary of this post with a link to the full package appears in this week's Monday Memo from Progressive Maryland, one of the oases in the news desert.

A Prince George's resident writes: "I was appalled on Nov. 16, 2021, as I watched the Prince George’s County Council approve the Davis/Franklin map (CR-123-2021) for the new Prince George’s County redistricting lines. I watched the session late into the night as over 100 people spoke against CR-123-2021 and NO ONE spoke in favor of it (over 150 people had signed up to speak but not all of them were able to stay on the line for hours and hours).

"I was shocked that the council could so blatantly ignore the will of Prince George’s residents.

"What has also been shocking is the silence from our county executive, Angela Alsobrooks."

Here's the Weekly Memo with what activists and working families need to navigate this dizzying week in Annapolis and DC.

New legislative districts for Maryland and overrides (maybe) of a lot of good bills vetoed by Larry Hogan after this spring’s session are on the table for this brief, intense week. Important measures to ease the lives of working people – better mass transit, more accountability for law enforcement, criminal justice and decarceration, collective bargaining, climate justice and a better response to COVID. And about the feds– important stakes for Build Back Better, voting rights, the debt ceiling and other critical needs held hostage to each other in gridlock land. How to budge them? Find out here...

Maryland politics are, for a change, more exciting than those in Washington, D.C. That’s because the General Assembly has only a week to wrap a lot of business with fewer chances to kick the can down the road, compared to Congress, which would be equally exciting issues-wise if the very big stakes were not buried in the small-time, venal behavior of the near-deadlocked chambers.

New legislative districts for Maryland and overrides (maybe) of a lot of good bills vetoed by Larry Hogan after this spring’s session are on the table for this brief, intense week. Important measures to ease the lives of working people – better mass transit, more accountability for law enforcement, criminal justice and decarceration, collective bargaining, climate justice and a better response to COVID. 

And about the feds– While the MD General Assembly begins its sudden-death scuffle over redistricting and veto overrides today, the grind in DC goes on, with Build Back Better, the debt ceiling, voter rights and other critical needs holding one another hostage courtesy of rules that shouldn’t have survived the 19th Century. We’ll have a brisk summary from People’s Action in their every-Monday PA weekly forecast, plus what to do as activist individuals to make your collective voices heard. Find it all here, but don't miss the opportunities for activism in the Weekly Memo as well, coming to your inbox today.

Progressive organizations in US House District 1 as well as some statewide have written to the leaders of both Assembly chambers to express "our support for a new Congressional map that restores balance to Maryland’s First District, and protects our democracy from radicals who would overturn the will of the voters for political gain. We urge you to use your power to create a competitive First District where anti-democratic extremists are not immune to accountability from the voters." If this effort for a fair redistricting map falls short, "we would hate to look back with regret that we did not do more to save our democracy."

We hope you had a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday, and we hope this year you’ll choose to make a gift to support our grassroots advocacy efforts at Progressive Maryland. As a grassroots organization, we rely on small donations from progressives like you to bring our vision for a better Maryland to life. You can donate at this link — no gift is too small, any amount makes a difference. 

Thanks to your help, we’ve been able to develop strong issue campaigns on the local, state, and federal levels, and we’ve trained dozens of electoral candidates on how to run successful campaigns. We're entering the final stretch of 2021 on a strong note because of supporters like you. 

Check out campaign developments and additional opportunities to get involved in this week's memo.

In Solidarity,

The Progressive Maryland Team

Progressive Maryland tries to keep activists up to date on the matters that really matter. Here is our account from last week, starting with federal issues that affect every worker and working family in Maryland.

Media conventional and unconventional give us a perspective on the pandemic's latest threat, the enduring climate threat, Build Back Better in the Senate sausage machine, and other issues.

This Indigenous Peoples Heritage Month, we acknowledge the Accohannock Indian Tribe, Assateague Peoples Tribe, Nause-Waiwash Band of Indians, Piscataway Conoy Tribe, Piscataway Indian Nation, Pocomoke Indian Nation and Youghiogheny River Band of Shawnee Indians as the original stewards of Maryland's lands.

It is our responsibility as settlers to acknowledge the ongoing effects of settler colonialism, and to recognize that we benefit from the displacement, genocide, and past and present violence against Indigenous people on whose ancestral lands present-day United States, including the state of Maryland, stands.