coronavirus_image2.jpgLots happening soon: Justice Task Force lobbying workshop TOMORROW; Giving Tuesday tomorrow as well though there's never a wrong day to support progessive impact in our state; our Member Welcome event Dec. 8, for new and seasoned powerbuilders. Plus critical Covid-19 updates, national action, chapter work, our allies' events calendarized and blogs we have posted. The PM weekly Memo does this every week; tell your friends to sign up for it here. 

 

 

Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, November 30, 2020

*** Save The Date: Tomorrow, December 1st, is Giving Tuesday! You can give early today at https://www.progressivemaryland.org/donate. Any amount helps support our grassroots advocacy work! *** 

 

STATEWIDE ACTION

Justice Task Force Grassroots Lobbying Training: Tuesday, December 1st

Join us tomorrow, 12/1 from 6-7pm for a virtual training on how to host an effective meeting with your legislator. We’ll discuss how we can effectively meet with our representatives and prepare to lobby for our police reform demands before the start of the next General Assembly. RSVP Here: https://secure.everyaction.com/8S3pBP4FsEa9JyHCWhmQGw2 

 

Member Welcome Meeting:

As we prepare for the new year Progressive Maryland will bring its members, old and new, together on the evening of Tuesday,  December 8 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm for a Member Welcome Meeting. We’ll share critical information for EVERY Progressive Maryland member, whether you have been fighting alongside us for just 3 months or for the past several  years. At the welcome meeting we will:

  • Get to know other members and some of our staff
  • Hear about key parts of our organization including our  issue task forces  and ways to participate in them
  • Discuss upcoming events and a variety of opportunities for members 
  • Review PM’s structure, including our local chapters and leadership structure
  • Talk about the upcoming annual membership meeting in January

Please note that this is a gathering only for our current members.  Not a member? Sign up to become a member of PM by following this link.

Enjoy the holiday this week. Please stay safe and well.  We look forward to seeing you in December!

Member Welcome Meeting  December 8th 6:30pm-7:30pm

 

COVID-19 UPDATE

The news was grim during this November holiday season as the death toll from the virus reached nearly 267,000 in the U.S. and surpassed 4,400 in Maryland. On Sunday, Maryland recorded 1,999 new COVID-19 CampaignMiscImage_1594309709.6756.pngcases and 23 additional deaths according to the State Department of Health.  Hospitals across the country are straining to care for patients because hospitalizations have doubled in the past month. Given the human, health and economic toll the crisis is taking we continue to make COVID response work an organizing priority at Progressive Maryland. We stand in solidarity with some of our key organizational partners who represent public employees, underserved communities, non-profit agencies,  health care workers, teachers and vulnerable members of the population. 

On Thursday, December 17 at 6:30 p.m. we’ll hold our next statewide Forum on COVID. Our healthcare leader and activist team is planning an important meeting to talk about COVID-19 in Maryland: the impact thus far, the needs and response, the status of a vaccine/s and what we can do as community members to push elected officials for more resources and aid. Stay tuned for a link to the Forum.

This Wednesday, December 2, is a national call in day to urge the U.S. Senate to pass a strong COVID relief package (more details in the National Views section below.) We have reached one of the most dangerous points yet in the pandemic and it’s absolutely critical for the Senate to pass emergency funding to help us handle  this crisis. Please take part in this event: check it out at this link.

We’ve entered a new and deadly period in the pandemic as cases and community spread increase dramatically; it’s a “surge upon a surge” as Dr. Fauci has warned. Much more needs to be done to shore up staffing, testing, and tracing and to marshal the other resources and policies we need to get the virus under control. There is some promising news on the vaccine front but we are many months away from widespread full scale distribution. That is why we must  diligently adhere to proven public health guidelines that we know reduce the spread. Choosing to follow the advice will help us protect ourselves and others. Let’s all do our part! It’s simple, straightforward and effective. Mask up, wash hands frequently, maintain socal distance of 6 to 10 feet, stay away from indoor dining at bars and restaurants, eliminate non-essential  travel, and avoid in-person gatherings. 

Hundreds of lives could be saved in these next several months if Marylanders step up and bear down on these practices. 

 

Statewide roundup (from the Maryland Reporter)

State schools struggle: both the Baltimore Sun editorial board and the largest state teachers’ union are declaring that the off-again, on-again jostling of the state’s school systems -- with “most all stopping and starting, changing directions and rejiggering plans almost one week to the next” -- is more damaging to students than going full virtual for the rest of the semester would be. Both are recommending a consistent approach to virtual learning. The wintertime surge in the state looks likely to make the disruption worse. The under-reported downside is the lack of reliable broadband in many homes statewide, as the UMCP J-school’s Capital News Service reports. Meanwhile schools in Carroll and Washington counties are reporting drastic drops in enrollment likely due to defections by parents to private or home-schooling approaches.

Training days: The late  Sen. Ted Kennedy’s staff used to say they could tell the often-portly lawmaker was going to run for president again because he went on a crash diet. The WaPo reports that Gov. Larry Hogan has lost 50 pounds this year via diet and exercise. History doesn’t repeat itself, many have said, but it rhymes...

 

NATIONAL VIEWS AND ASKS

Progressive Maryland works closely with our national affiliate People’s Action to influence the federal policy issues that mean so much at the state level. PA has a COVID National Call-In Day (#ReliefCantWait) Digital Day this Wednesday, December 2 urging the Senate to pass a relief package. Individuals and chapter affinity groups can jump in; check it out at this link.

 

Our People’s Action Family is vigorously opposing former Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel as a possible appointee to the new administration; he is indefensibly compromised by his cover-up of police murder on his watch, as well as fealty to neolib interests while an Obama functionary. PA has a petition for communicating this here.

 

OUR CHAPTERS AROUND THE STATE

 

Baltimore County -- Supporters and community leaders are applauding the passage of Question A, a Baltimore County Charter Amendment to establish the Citizens’ Election Fund and Commission. This is a monumental step forward towards more inclusive, fair, and representative campaigns in Baltimore County and aims to democratize the county’s increasingly expensive elections and get big money out of politics in Baltimore County. 

 Progressive Prince George’s

 PMD Montgomery

Last week’s introduction of a MoCo bill to curb the use of School Resource Officers (SROs) is just the latest activity on this controversial practice. Here is coverage of that introduction and other outcrops of the discussion in other Maryland counties. And here is the schedule for two measures tomorrow -- Tuesday, December 1 MoCo County Council Hearings include two police reform measures:

 

  • 1:30 PM Shift School Resource Officers funding to school restorative justice, therapeutic, and enrichment programs.

 

 Frederick County Progressives 

Take Action Anne Arundel County

PMD Baltimore

Talbot Rising

Lower Shore Progressive Caucus

 

EVENTS FROM OUR ALLIES

Tuesday, December 1 MoCo County Council Hearings include two police reform measures:

 

  • 1:30 PM Shift School Resource Officers funding to school restorative justice, therapeutic, and enrichment programs.

 

Wednesday, December 2 | 7pm 350.org webinar on support for Georgia Senate candidates

Outlining virtual and on-the-ground volunteer efforts to get out the vote and keep Georgia blue. During the webinar, you’ll learn about the significance of the Georgia Senate runoffs, how local organizers pulled off their historic victory, and what you can do to be a part of the upcoming races in Georgia. .Register here. 

Thursday, December 3 | 7pm Schools not Jails!

In order for Maryland to end the school-to-prison pipeline, we must know “Who Represents Us” and how their office can be used to make systematic changes to our education and criminal justice system. A webinar — Click here to get zoom link and RSVP, or view the Facebook stream.

 Saturday, Dec. 12 and Sunday, Dec. 13 -- 4th Maryland Legislative Coalition Summit 

Virtual conference with participation from many state activist organizations on Legislative Priorities For the 2021 General Assembly Session, with themed sessions Saturday 10:30am on Social Justice, Immigration, Police Reform; 2pm Consumer Rights, Elections and Sunday 10:30am Economic Justice and 2pm Education and Health. Read more here, including participating organizations. https://www.facebook.com/MarylandLegislativeCoalition/?ref=page_internal


OUR RECENT BLOG POSTS

Reading the Progressive Maryland BlogSpace: our recent blog posts are shown below, but if you want a handy way to keep track – and never miss a blog post – you can sign up to get this Weekly Memo by email. Remember this is your blogspace and your participation is heartily invited. See something going on that you don’t like – or that you do like and hope to see more of? Send us your thoughts; submit to the moderator at [email protected]

November 24, 2020 Exciting News! We were voted one of the best nonprofits in the DC region!

🎉 Exciting news: The Catalogue for Philanthropy has chosen Progressive Maryland as one of the best nonprofits in the DC region! We were selected from a competitive applicant pool by passing through a rigorous review process conducted by a team of 170+ pro bono reviewers from foundations, corporate giving programs, peer nonprofits, local government agencies, and the philanthropic advisory community. We are so honored to be part of this powerful cohort of local changemakers! 🔥

 November 23, 2020 Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, November 23, 2020

What a year it has been! The president was impeached in 2020 and that may end up  way down the list of things we remember from this year. Progressive Maryland is very excited to leave 2020 behind and start looking toward next year. We have a new administration coming into the White House, a new legislative session in Annapolis, and ongoing campaigns across the state on which to focus.

The action is just starting -- catch it all in the Memo.

 November 17, 2020 Votes all counted, Progressive Maryland celebrates big electoral wins

As the final results of the Nov. 3 General Election have come in, Progressive Maryland endorsed candidates see wins across the state. We are proud to be leaders in the strategies that empower working families by electing their champions and showing that big-money campaign contributors can be beaten. Read about all of our winning candidates here.

November 10, 2020 Progressive Maryland celebrates wins of endorsed candidates, ballot measures statewide

Progressive Maryland volunteers campaigned for progressive candidates across the state leading up to Election Day 2020, including urging smart mail-in voting during the pandemic. In Baltimore City and in the second-largest county, Prince George's city council and school board candidates endorsed by Progressive Maryland were swept to victory. Read all about it here.

REMEMBER – these blog posts are frequently expressions of political opinion from our wide-ranging membership and circle of allies. They are not expressions of opinion by Progressive Maryland. Don’t be surprised if they sometimes vary in their political content. You might even disagree with them – a good reason to contribute a blog of your own. Send it to the moderator, Woody Woodruff, at [email protected]. 

>>Keeping up with the blogs is easier with the index. The blogs published in the PM BlogSpace from June 2015 through December 2016 are all available with descriptions and links here. You can follow blogs for 2017-18 starting from here

 

woody woodruff

About

M.A. and Ph.d. from University of Maryland Merrill College of Journalism, would-be radical, sci-fi fan... retired to a life of keyboard radicalism...