One of the fastest growing and most tempting funds in Maryland's range of budget options is fattening for quite the wrong reason: Utilities are paying into it to avoid increasing the renewable energy share in their power portfolio. The Strategic Energy Investment Fund is a big enough bundle of cash to tempt hard-pressed budget-makers, whether the governor (who proposes a budget) or the General Assembly (which passes the final version).

The SEIF was designed to boost the state's resilience and build in-state renewable sources that will help decarbonize the electricity we use. Our public (alas, corporate-owned) utilities have found it more convenient to pay penalties on their inability to add renewables to their sources -- including wind power, more plentiful across the Appalachians than on Maryland's own soil (as you may recall, a very promising offshore wind project was held up in court by the Ocean City boardwalk moguls until Trump was back and able to pick it off (for a delusional windbag he has developed a remarkable hatred for wind power).

The Sierra Club has a fine explainer on how the SEIF should be used (rather than as an ATM for budget-makers). And the Assembly seems to be trying to remedy an error they made that, in the name of keeping scam artists out of the energy market, cut off consumers from readily demanding renewables as a portion of their power, therefore squeezing the utilities' corporate barons to add more renewables to their portfolios. The state's core membership in the multistate Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) sets the standard utilities have to meet, and when they fail to do so, the SEIF swells with their contributions. Still, it seems likely that the utilities' compliance with RGGI needs to be re-examined if it's cheaper for them to pay into SEIF rather than actually try to add renewables to what they offer. Maybe they should pay enough to make it hurt and make adding renewables look like the better idea. Having a convenient cash stash for solving budget problems is nice, but cleaner air and less climate change would be even nicer. Here and everywhere. 

CORRUPTION IS STILL A FAMILY BUSINESS, WHEREVER – We wonder why Trump objects to the maintenance of political power as a family business  -- he thinks it is “unacceptable” that the son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Khamenei should succeed his father. How does Don Jr. feel about that? Trump’s inside-outside game -- where huge parts of his policy objectives and machinations in areas like crypto, real estate deals and generally corrupt gains enabled by deregulation and no-bid contracts enrich his family empire -- fits right into politics as a family business. What could go wrong? In this game of “Succession,” as it turns out, a Middle East war is required to create the vacancy, and plenty could go wrong. Lessons unlearned, one more time.

We remaining VVAW members (fewer and fewer) mourn the death of Country Joe McDonald, whose “Fixin’ to Die Rag” set the tone for our resistance.

And yes, the News You Can Use, as progressive Marylanders, happens in Maryland mostly -- the general assembly is approaching a month to go till sine die, and still lots to do. Make sure it is done on your behalf; check this week's memo for avenues to ensure that. And all over the state citizens are fighting ICE and its plan to house detainees in warehouses (seriously -- that's how DHS feels about anyone they collar). And as we scuffle over these issues, the Chesapeake Bay is shrinking the state, acre by acre, because, well, the land is sinking as the water rises. So much to do. It's News You Can Use.

Progressive Maryland condemns the escalating military attacks in Iran and across the Middle East. This dangerous expansion of U.S. military aggression risks igniting a catastrophic regional war and is already killing innocent civilians, including children, who are once again paying the price for geopolitical power struggles they had no role in creating.

For decades, endless war and U.S. intervention in the Middle East have cost countless lives while failing to deliver peace or security. These wars have devastated communities, displaced millions of people, and left entire societies in ruins—while weapons manufacturers profit and working people everywhere are forced to bear the consequences.

The people of Maryland do not want another war carried out in our name. Congress must immediately assert its constitutional authority over war powers, halt unauthorized military action, and pursue diplomacy and de-escalation instead of imperial force.

At a time when working families are already facing an affordability crisis, war will only deepen the pain—driving up gas prices, destabilizing the global economy, and diverting public resources away from the urgent needs of our communities.

Our communities deserve investment in healthcare, education, housing, climate action, and a strong economy—not another endless war.

Progressive Maryland stands with movements across the country and around the world demanding peace, diplomacy, and accountability.

A Monday morning note from the Associated Press about the (according to Trump) affordability “hoax”: “A barrel of Brent crude [oil], the international standard, was trading at $79.41 per barrel early Monday, according to FactSet, up 9% from its trading price of $72.87 on Friday, at the time a seven-month high. Higher global energy prices mean consumers will pay more for gasoline at the pump and have to shell out more for groceries and other goods at a time when many are already feeling the impacts of elevated inflation.”

So, back to forever wars (see Megan E's national report below). It's a good distraction, if you are Donald Trump, from the failure of his claims of affordability, the continued fascist brutality of ICE in Maryland and elsewhere, and the menace of Trump's threats to take over the way elections are run (constitutionally a job that states do.)

Working families have learned to duck and cover to preserve their already shaky jobs and livelihoods while the wars of choice flicker overhead. Marylanders' control and influence over the work of their own government and lawmaking remain, so don't duck so far you miss opportunities to increase our power and agency at our own level. Those options are always there, as we see each week in the Memo.

It's News You Can Use, peacetime or not.

February is the perfect time to honor the incredible contributions of Black Marylanders throughout history. Test your knowledge with our Black History Month quiz! See how much you know—and maybe learn something new about the people, places, and legacies that have shaped our state.

Black History Quiz: How Well Do You Know Maryland?

1. This congressional district has consistently been represented by a Black member of Congress since the late 1980s.
   
   
2. A statue of this famous Marylander can be seen on Lawyers Mall in Annapolis.
   
   
3. The city of Cambridge on the Eastern Shore houses a museum and mural about this legendary Underground Railroad leader.
   
   
4. Of Maryland’s four HBCUs, this is the oldest.
   
   
5. This iconic blues/jazz singer spent her childhood in Baltimore and gave us the song Strange Fruit, still one of the most powerful civil rights songs.
   

Answers:

Want to check how you did? Here are the correct answers!

1. Maryland’s 7th Congressional District – represented by Kweisi Mfume, Elijah Cummings, and others over the decades.
   
   
2. Thurgood Marshall – the first Black Supreme Court Justice and a Maryland native.
   
   
3. Harriet Tubman – legendary Underground Railroad leader; don’t miss the museum and mural when you visit Cambridge and the Underground Railroad Trail!
   
   
4. Bowie State University – Maryland’s oldest HBCU, older than Morgan State, Coppin State, and University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
   
   
5. Billie Holiday (Lady Day) – Baltimore-born jazz and blues singer whose song Strange Fruit remains a powerful civil rights anthem.

The memo will be posted here after the email has been sent.

One of the peskiest problems that Gov. Moore and the General Assembly face in trying to balance the state's budget is protecting the Blueprint for school improvement against being chipped away or delayed in its implementation plan by other urgent priorities. Full funding for a critical area, Community Schools with wraparound child and family support, has been delayed several times. And that effort is related to many other child-centered concerns, such as the embattled foster-care system and professional support for kids in school (all of which see below). It's easy to get distracted by national arguments and the shenanigans of Donald Trump (the Master of Distraction; bombs may be falling on Iran as you read this).

But the kids who are coming up now need more help -- from us -- than they are getting, and that is a due-bill that we will keep on paying at considerable interest.

It's News You Can Use.