The weekly memo -- events around Maryland focusing on our growing list of active chapters; allies' events, and links to the blogs from the last week.

Welcome to the Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for August 7-12

Statewide Health Care Education and Advocacy:

Thank you to everyone who participated in Progressive Maryland's Weekend of Action this weekend! On August 4-6th, several chapters of Progressive Maryland hosted deep canvasses and other events all across the state. Canvasses on the Eastern Shore, Anne Arundel County, Prince George's County and Frederick County were focused on talking to people in our communities on healthcare! 

For those interested in getting more involved with the Maryland for Guaranteed Healthcare campaign:

You can sign up to share your healthcare story or attend a Potluck to #ProtectOurCare!

Many proposals are being put forward on both sides of the aisle, some with better intentions than others. The Maryland for Guaranteed Healthcare campaign is just that - a campaign for guaranteed healthcare. With the strides the ACA has done to improve the healthcare system, there will still remain 30 million Americans uninsured, with many who have insurance still not having needed medical coverage and care. In the immediate short-term, our advocacy has been concentrated heavily on preventing up to 23 million Americans from having their medical coverage taken away. Millions of people in our nation rely with their lives on services provided by Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP. We are demanding our elected officials such as Governor Hogan, Representative Andy Harris, and others to not only oppose ANY healthcare cuts for Maryland, as well as to take a leading position that everyone deserves healthcare and supporting policy solutions that make that goal a reality.Health care is a human right and moral issue, not a commodity. Our goal should be to provide more and higher quality care to Americans, especially access to mental health services. We at Progressive Maryland believe that should take the form of a single-payer, Medicare-for-all system. Sign our petition if you agree!  Text "healthcare" to (240) 708 - 8203 to sign up!

Beth Landry, BSN, RN. Healthcare Organizer

Progressive Maryland  Cell: (443) 366 - 9402 Email: [email protected]

Progressive Prince George’s

Thursday, August 10  Progressive Prince George’s August Chapter Meeting 6:30-8 p.m. RSVP here! Colmar Manor Community Center and Town Hall 3701 Lawrence Street – Colmar Manor, MD. 20722
On the agenda: Mini- Deep Canvassing Training -- Medicaid for ALL - Campaign Update -- Opposition to Bladensburg Concrete Plant -- Issue Groups Updates -- District Action Teams Updates

Sept. 19 -- Port Towns Community Development meeting, 6:30 p.m., Colmar Manor Town Hall & Community Center on Lawrence Street in Colmar Manor.  You are invited to attend the upcoming Port Town Community Development meeting on Sept. 19  We will have an open meeting to hear about and discuss the Prince George’s County Zoning Rewrite progress. The MNCCPC staffers Brittney Drakeford and Chad Williams will present how the changes might affect us in the 47^th district and in our Port Towns area. PLEASE SEND the invite to your community members and elected officials.  RSVP:  [email protected]

Progressive MoCo: The Fight for Fifteen continues

You may have heard that a bill to raise the Montgomery County minimum wage to $15/hr was reintroduced last week. This is good news following the County Executive's veto earlier this year. 

Of course many of the same corporate interests that helped defeat the original bill are determined to kill this one too. In fact, a biased study showing a wage increase will hurt businesses is expected to be released this week.  That's why we must get organized!

We all know Montgomery County is expensive–the most expensive in the state–and new reports show a working family in the county needs to earn over $30/hr to be self-sufficient. On top of that, over half of county renters are paying more than 50% of their incomes on housing. No one who works hard should have to live in poverty.

Raising the minimum wage to $15/hr is a modest increase that will give Montgomery County workers a leg up in the day-to-day struggle to make ends meet. Such an increase already has overwhelming public support including the support of small businesses, most of which already pay $14-$15/hr. 

The county executive’s highly touted “study” after his veto was released last week and turned out to be a poorly designed consultant hit job aimed at confirming what the business community wanted.

The real opponents are large corporations and wealthy interests who want to keep wages low for their own personal financial gain. 

This is a critical moment for the Fight for $15 in Maryland. We need you to get involved to help us build a strong working class movement.

Join the Maryland for $15 campaign and let us know how you can help. Click the link to volunteer to share your story about why Montgomery County needs a $15 minimum wage, host a house meeting in your neighborhood, or knock doors in your community. 

 Take Action AAC – Independent Action Anne Arundel County

 Independent Action in AA County

Wed, Aug. 9 Community meeting to discuss proposed cell phone tower near Shady Side Elementary, on Wednesday, August 9th at 7 p.m. at the Shady Side Community Center at 1431 Snug Harbor Rd, Shady Side, MD 20764.

FROM OUR ALLIES:

Coming up Monday, August 21, at the "Reel & Meal at the New Deal" film series

Power and Control, Peter Cohn’s 2010 documentary about physical and emotional abuse in families.

After the film two Greenbelt actors, Kathy Gordon and Katherine Jones, will perform a skit about domestic violence.     Starts 7 pm at the New Deal Café, 113 Centerway in Roosevelt Center, Greenbelt, 

following an optional buffet for $14 served from 6:30 pm.  

Baltimore comrades, Check in on Max Obuszewski’s highly useful calendar and tip sheet at http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/

To keep up with progressive events in and around DC consult the invaluable calendar at the Washington Peace Center, http://washingtonpeacecenter.org/alerts

 It all happens for free… right? Not exactly. Organizing for change in our society and our high-maintenance politics requires both people and money. Keep change moving with a quick, secure impulse-buy contribution here.

BLOG POSTS THIS WEEK

Reading the Progressive Maryland BlogSpace: our blogs for the previous week 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]

We recently posted these blogs:

August 04, 2017   Weekend Update: PM's Weekend of Action; Fight for $15 and more.

Here’s a Friday update for a big weekend of statewide action, talking to our neighbors, and fighting back against Ike Leggett’s bogus “study” on the effects of a $15 minimum wage.

August 03, 2017   MoCo advocates blast sham study on $15 minimum wage

In response to a new report on the impact of gradually raising Montgomery County’s minimum wage to $15 released by PFM Group Consulting and commissioned by Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, Progressive Maryland issued the following statement from the Montgomery County Fight for 15 Coalition and the National Employment Law Project:

August 02, 2017   QUICK-HIT SCARE STUDY ON $15 MINIMUM WAGE MAY HAVE LITTLE WEIGHT

It's a good idea to take a skeptical view of Ike Leggett's commissioned study of the effects of a minimum wage hike in Montgomery County. It's pro-business and anti-worker, just like Ike. A broader view of the effects of increasing the prosperity of low-wage working people shows it makes better communities. See the August 3 update with EPI analysis, below

August 01, 2017 PM's interns finishing work on issues that matter to the community

We've had a great group of interns working with us this summer supporting our statewide healthcare campaign and organizing in Prince George's County. Our interns have the opportunity to work on a range of issues from healthcare to fair elections to the Fight for $15 and learn vital organizing skills that can be put to use in future endeavors. If you are interested in being considered for future intern opportunities or have questions about the program, please contact Justin Vest at [email protected].

July 31, 2017 PM Weekly Update: a week for outreach in your community

At Progressive Maryland, we've been exploring ways to not only resist, but to break through the partisan silos that often divide everyday working people. We've spent the summer talking to residents across the state and are finding people are concerned about many of the same things. Join us this coming weekend for a statewide outreach effort -- in your community.

Keeping up with the blogs is easier with the index. The blogs published in the PM BlogSpace since June 2015 are all available with descriptions and links here.