Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, March 29, 2021
We stood with our AAPI family in sorrow and solidarity over the racist mass shootings in Atlanta in recent weeks. As the shootings in Boulder, Colo. show us, we struggle not only with the otherizing motives of the violent but with their easy access to murderous weapons and the law’s enablement of their makers and sellers. We stand against all forms of racism and gender based violence -- and the way greed caters to and encourages them.
April approaches and with it the wrapup of our state Assembly session; we continue to keep you up to date on both the fast-moving, national-level COVID relief efforts, struggles for justice in Congress and the back-and-forth of state legislation. This and much more in the Memo.
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Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, March 22, 2021
We stand with our AAPI family in sorrow and solidarity over the racist mass shootings in Atlanta. We stand against all forms of racism and gender based violence. We have joined many groups in signing the Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta statement: “A Community-Centered Response to Violence Against Asian American Communities”; and our national affiliate People’s Action has released a press statement. Furthermore, here is a statement that we support from the MoCo Progressive Asian American Network in response to these hate crimes.
Keep up to date on both the fast-moving, national-level COVID relief efforts and the back-and-forth of legislation in the Maryland General Assembly as we approach the last month of the session. This and much more in the Memo.
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Assembly aims to adjust Kirwan plan to tackle post-COVID landscape
The General Assembly is tweaking -- and in some cases adjusting big-time -- the huge program called the Blueprint for Education to make sure the Kirwan plan adapts to the needs of a post-COVID landscape and to the learning loss that the past year has brought to Maryland's K-12 students. This Maryland Matters coverage shows the possibilities.
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Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, March 15, 2021
Today would have been the 88th birthday of Ruth Bader Ginsburg! We remember this great champion of equality and will keep dissenting as long as we need to. Congress should honor her legacy and #RestoreTheVRA. We continue to observe Womxn’s History Month and keep you up to date on both the fast-moving, national-level COVID relief efforts and the back-and-forth of legislation in the Maryland General Assembly as we approach the last month of the session. This and much more in the Memo.
Thank you for being part of this movement.
In Solidarity,
Read moreSchools reopening, county by county -- the plan up to date
Gov. Hogan has abruptly set the stage for openings across the state, giving local officials fits. Among them are schools, which teachers and their unions insist should be much safer to open for face-to-face learning than they are at this point. The national priority for vaccinating teachers will help, but signs of progress in Maryland are spotty and disputed.
Conduit Street, the newsletter of the Maryland Association of Counties, has the latest on county by county plans for reopening schools. Read them here.
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We're not bluffing. Criminal justice/police reform is non-negotiable
Effective criminal justice reform and police accountability are on the line in Annapolis. Today. See floor debate here. It’s time to show our legislators that we are serious when we say that if they do not act on behalf of the people they are elected to represent then we will replace them. Despite last week's in-person protest in Annapolis, legislators are breaking faith and we must now ensure there are consequences for those who stand on the side of the Fraternal Order of Police in the next Democratic primary in 2022. See all the ways below.
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Take action: a foreclosure crisis looms; where is Maryland leadership?
Progressive Maryland's housing and judiciary reform task force will tackle issues of the pandemic housing, foreclosure and eviction crisis at a virtual forum Tuesday, March 16, 6:30-8pm. Join us to face up to the emergency during which joblessness and quarantine have put working families, both mortgage holders and renters, in danger of becoming unhoused during a perilous time.
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Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, March 8, 2021
Happy International Womxn’s Day!
We are now past the halfway point of the legislative session and some crucial bills still need action -- "crossover" looms in two weeks. See below for what that means and other policy updates and action items, especially on law enforcement reform and ending medical debt. This and much more in the Memo.
Thank you for being part of this movement.
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Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, March 1, 2021
Happy March and Womxn’s History Month!
We are now at the halfway point of the legislative session and some crucial bills still need action. See below for policy updates and action items, especially on law enforcement reform and ending medical debt. This and much more in the Memo.
Thank you for being part of this movement. In Solidarity, The PM Team
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Assembly bills, communities fight impact of power plants in Prince George's
The impact of a cluster of polluting fossil fuel power plants on children and neighborhoods has sparked bills in this Assembly session in response. A Maryland Matters report and independent research provided to the Progressive Maryland BlogSpace fleshes out this instance in which environmental racism and profit are causing officials to look the other way.
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