The Anne Arundel County Council has set in motion a path to a public referendum enabling a Small Donor Funded Elections Program to open up the electoral process to candidates not backed by big money. Progressive Maryland along with Common Cause Maryland and the Maryland Public Interest Research Group are cheering this citizen-initiated process, in which AAC would join five other major state jurisdictions in a publicly funded elections process.

Dueling messages are swirling around this Thursday's anniversary of Trump's attack on democracy, and we'll be watchful. Meanwhile, Progressive Maryland members have work to do, an annual Membership Assembly this Saturday to prep for and an upcoming General Assembly session. And COVID's not done with us. You'll find what you need to stay safe and take action with your fellow progressives and make real change in Maryland in 2022.

The portal of 2022 brings the expectable array of good news (minimum wage increase!), sordid news (Larry Hogan’s messaging stays undercover while his admin’s Covid response and miserable unemployment comp process (don’t trust the process!) get eyeballed unfavorably—plus unpleasant vibes around rising Covid numbers statewide reflecting national trends. Here’s what we’ve got, progressive Marylanders…

Find out more about what you can do in today's Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo.

The Weekly Memo is taking a week off, but we don't want you to miss important news that concerns progressive activists -- and struggling working families in Maryland -- that fall in the hammock between Christmas and New Year's.

Local special elections; inequities in how to get federal money (it's an art!); Maryland's gains in diversity; Maryland COVID data returns from ransomware exile; and more.

A reminder: we swipe a lot of our news coverage throughout the year from the nonprofit news sites Maryland Matters and Maryland Reporter. They deserve your support in this giving time. As Maryland taxpayers you are already supporting the nationally acclaimed Capital News Service at UM's Merrill College of Journalism, where skilled student reporters provide statewide coverage that's used by many of our local papers across the state.

Progressive Maryland's Membership Assembly is Saturday, January 8 and we'll build momentum for the legislative session and a busy 2022. See more below.

Happy holidays from all of us at Progressive Maryland! We look forward to continuing our work with you in the new year.

After an event-filled weekend, is the big story Joe M or O-EM Chron -- Maryland sees a spike in cases while Larry Hogan preens on Fox News Sunday with a "What, me worry?" while our West VA neighbor Sen. Joe Roadblock attempts an on-air bill kill, upstaging Hogan for Fox airtime.

Dems scramble to reset the Build Back Better bill for passage while alternately scorching the earth around Manchin only to be reminded he lives on a yacht ("houseboat") in the Potomac.

Cases climb in our state but there's a giant surplus to spend; good news about e-vehicles and support...

Political scientist David Lublin, who hosts the long-running blog Seventh State, has a look at the state of play among the two major parties in Maryland. In blogs posted late last week and today, he runs down the changes and shifting political loyalties of Marylanders across this very diverse state.

Veto overrides were the big news out of Annapolis last week -- Last week’s Special Legislative Session had both some exciting and disheartening outcomes. While some crucial bills had successful veto overrides, other important legislation was tabled indefinitely - essentially meaning it was taken off the table entirely. Read below to learn more about the veto overrides we are celebrating and why there is much more work to be done in the 2022 Session in hopes to make up for some truly disappointing losses this year. 

Speaking of 2022, election campaigns are well underway and there are plenty of opportunities to get involved with progressive candidates! This and much more in the memo.

A forest of veto override activity "in Annapolis" contrasts sharply with continued gridlock in DC -- though a few flowers are blooming amid the carnage. We round up what has been going on in these seats of power and how progressives can work to forward good things in both. A summary of this post with a link to the full package appears in this week's Monday Memo from Progressive Maryland, one of the oases in the news desert.

A Prince George's resident writes: "I was appalled on Nov. 16, 2021, as I watched the Prince George’s County Council approve the Davis/Franklin map (CR-123-2021) for the new Prince George’s County redistricting lines. I watched the session late into the night as over 100 people spoke against CR-123-2021 and NO ONE spoke in favor of it (over 150 people had signed up to speak but not all of them were able to stay on the line for hours and hours).

"I was shocked that the council could so blatantly ignore the will of Prince George’s residents.

"What has also been shocking is the silence from our county executive, Angela Alsobrooks."