Here is all you will need to navigate the flurry of bills, hearings and activities that roil the Maryland General Assembly session as we enter Week NINE of the three-month marathon. Our progressive allies at the Job Opportunities Task Force and the Maryland Legislative Coalition have your scorecard and action plan.

Two important bills in pursuit of Fair Elections had hearings last Friday (Feb. 20) – one, SB 613/HB1125, strengthening the existing public-financing provisions for the race for Governor and adding the state Attorney General and Controller to the program, and the second, HB1351/SB0947, sets up a Fair Elections public financing electoral process for members of the Assembly, in which small-donor contributions are matched with public funds. Progressive Maryland testified in favor of both bills last week.

Here is testimony in support of both bills before the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee as delivered Friday, Feb. 20 by Progressive Maryland Executive Director Larry Stafford.

In the Memo this week: a roundup of the broad scope of legislation requiring attention from Maryland's progressives in week SEVEN of the Session; news from our chapters, events from our progressive allies, and of course our recent blog posts.

Don't miss the Annex -- a separate post with all you will ever need to keep track of this week's bills and hearings.

Here is the Maryland Legislative Coalition's roundup of upcoming hearings for the cascade of bills at the Maryland General Assembly

Progressive Maryland believes that we deserve a democracy where everyone has an equal voice and our government works for everyone, not just for the wealthy and special interests. This means having fair elections that can’t be bought by the rich and powerful. That starts with a public financing system for elections across Maryland.

In the Memo this week: Fair Elections bills face a hearing this week; a roundup of the broad scope of legislation requiring attention from Maryland's progressives in week six of the Session; news from our chapters, events from our progressive allies, and of course our recent blog posts. Don't miss the Annex -- a separate post with all you will ever need to keep track of this week's bills and hearings.

Here's a complete roundup of progressive efforts in the legislative session in Annapolis in this and upcoming weeks. Many upcoming lobby days are included.

Will Gov. Hogan, like Trump, make Maryland taxpayers hostages to a foreign [global capitalist] power? A dominant Aussie megacorp appears to be pulling his strings on the Beltway giveaway, this meticulous reporting from the Maryland Transit Opportunities Coalition’s longtime gadfly Ben Ross shows.

Major news from two of the state's premier progressive organizations -- starting with the Baltimore races, Progressive Maryland and the Working Families Party will work in solidarity to elect progressive candidates around the state.

This week, Week 5 of the General Assembly session, is a big one for hearings on critical bills – on the environment (throughout the week), on Kirwan education funding and accountability (mostly Wednesday), and on social justice with an emphasis on criminal justice, immigration and the criminalization of poverty (lots of them on Tuesday). Below, the Maryland Legislative Coalition shCans the schedule and keys the issues for you along with the Job Opportunities Task Force, two of our pivotal social justice allies.