Our new Organizing Director for Progressive Maryland, Nikki MG Cole, introduces herself and her organizing experience and invites our progressive activists to renew their effort to win on the Fight for $15 and other PM priorities in the General Assembly, and beyond that to change our politics by changing who wins office.

Larry Hogan's GOP instinct for paving the world emerged unmistakably in the latest move by his state transportation department -- "Hogan admin rejects transit options preferred by public, limits I-495, I-270 plans to adding lanes -- announcement bulldozes public comments, concerns of highway neighbors," says a /Feb. 14 2019 news release from the MoCo citizens group Don’t Widen 270/.

By increasing Maryland’s share of renewables from 25 percent to 50 percent through passage of the Maryland Clean Energy Jobs Act, leaders in Annapolis can help ensure that our Power52 Foundation success story -- creating careers and employment for historically underserved populations in the growing clean-energy field -- is multiplied across the state.

A potential win for communities fending off developer pressure in Prince George's, where it frequently reigns supreme. Activists in Bladensburg and neighboring communities in the Port Towns along the Anacostia have been fighting off a dust-generating "concrete batching plant" on an industrial site ill-placed in the middle of a mixed residential area. This week the Prince George's council, sitting as a zoning board (bad idea in itself) has temporarily yielded to the full house that greets every iteration of this decision. Persistence, at the cost of many hours of sitting through packed agendas, continues to pay off for the Port Towns Environmental Action group and for the health of the community.

Prince George's County Administration Building

The General Assembly session is finishing up its first of about three months of sausage-making, and there is a lot to be concerned about. We are building turnout for the Fight for $15 bill at Lobby Night Monday, Feb. 18 and tackling our broader progressive agenda at Progressive Maryland’s own Lobby Night March 4. See more below.

Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh (D) was joined by the Democratic county executives from Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George’s to endorse the Fight for Fifteen bill, which will be considered in the House Economic Matters Committee on Friday. House Bill 166 and Senate Bill 280 would phase in the wage increase over five years and tie future increases to the Consumer Price Index.

  The House Economic Matters hearing on House Bill 166, the Fight for $15 bill, was still going on at 2 PM Friday at this link/UPDATE the hearing, which lasted more than seven hours, can be viewed at this link http://mgahouse.maryland.gov/mga/play/c5bb038c-6f72-48b3-bb9d-f77eb549220c/?catalog/03e481c7-8a42-4438-a7da-93ff74bdaa4c 

  Pamela Wood covered the hearing for the Sun. The committee will vote later on whether to move the bill forward.

This year’s End of Life Options Act bill (HB 399, 49 co-sponsors) is a significant improvement over the bill offered two years ago. Various omissions in the original bill have been corrected so that we now have a comprehensive law that covers most of the forseeable issues and complications on this vexed issue of an individual's rights.

An analysis by Benjamin Orr and colleagues at the Maryland Center on Economic Policy (MCEP) finds some thin spots in the rosy picture presented by Gov. Hogan's proposed budget -- education, environment, human needs and a structural deficit top the list.

We are vertical. The Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo keeps you up on everything from the statewide to the very local, top to bottom. Plus our blog posts from the past week. Get your progressive dance card filled out right here.

An opinion writer in the UM student paper The Diamondback provides excellent background to the coming Maryland General Assembly debate on the Fight for $15 -- pushing the state's minimum wage much closer to a level that could provide working individuals and families the means for living above the poverty line.