Maryland's multi-member state legislative districts -- being discarded by other states -- serve to protect incumbents and keep the grip of neoliberal Democrats on the General Assembly, where big money and big business rule the roost and working families get the leavings. Our activist ally Rich Elliott outlines why single-member districts will bring more democracy to Maryland in this guest commentary from Maryland Matters.

We progressives have a more nuanced agenda today than the July 14 storming of the Bastille in Paris 1789 but the principles are the same: knocking down the barriers to the full lives all of us deserve. Join us in our issue campaigns, where we build power and hold our local officials accountable -- or replace them.

We have our Fourth of July to mark our 1776 Declaration of Independence and the French, just thirteen years and ten days later, had theirs. Bastille Day has come and gone, the day (July 14) that marks the beginning of the French Revolution of 1789 and the emergence of working people as a force in history, no turning back. That was the kick-start; join us in the continuing work of making change and building power.

Why are Maryland teachers fighting for the improvements promised in the Kirwan Commission proposals (and in the unkept promises of the Thornton plan before that)? Maybe because “ A 2018 study on ‘Understanding Teacher Shortages’ … found that Maryland teachers ranked 48^th out of 50 states for teacher working conditions, … and … scored especially low on classroom autonomy and administrative support.” It starts in the classroom, the reason Progressive Maryland is engaged with teachers in the Alliance to Reclaim our Schools (AROS) in Prince George’s, Montgomery and other counties around the state. This Maryland Matters article by Lisa Nevans Locke outlines the path to activism for many of the state’s teachers.

Without the need to bamboozle the electorate with nice-guy poses, Maryland’s Guv is sounding more Trump-like every day. His latest move -- withholding needed funds with an "unprecedented level of hypocrisy" -- fits the emerging pattern.

At Progressive Maryland (and with our progressive allies) we work for environmental justice, reform of the criminal justice/policing system and cutting the school-to-prison pipeline, fair elections that loosen the grip of big money on our politics, and reform of the systems that keep our families trapped in poverty in the midst of wealth. Read more about our issues -- and how you can be a part of change and building power -- in the Memo, every week.

The $27 billion-plus Maryland faces in climate change defense over two decades puts the state at No. 5 when it comes to states facing massive expenditures to prepare for sea level rise, behind only Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina and Virginia. That would be half the state’s current annual budget. And almost 3,000 miles of seawalls.

Prince George's advocate for returning citizens Kurt Stand describes testifying at a budget hearing about the need for the county to allocate funds for reentry services, specifically, to reestablish, this time with funding, a reentry advisory council that had passed as a county resolution in 2013. The advisory council never got off the ground because it was never funded in the county's budget and advocates asked that that, um, oversight be corrected.

It's the Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo, with upcoming events, actions taken and the permanent agenda of social justice in our state at all the points of the compass.  At Progressive Maryland (and with our progressive allies) we work for environmental justice, reform of the criminal justice/policing system and cutting the school-to-prison pipeline, fair elections that loosen the grip of big money on our politics, and reform of the systems that keep our families trapped in poverty in the midst of wealth. Read more about our issues -- and how you can be a part of change and building power -- in the Memo, every week. Get it here.

It's the Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo, with upcoming events, actions taken and the permanent agenda of social justice in our state at all the points of the compass.  At Progressive Maryland (and with our progressive allies) we work for change and building power, and progressive activism around the Free State, both Progressive Maryland’s action and those of our allied organizations and individuals, are in the Weekly Memo early every week. It’s a clearinghouse for folks who are building power together; and you can be in that environment of collective action. You can get the Weekly Memo by email; just sign up here.