A secularist agenda in Maryland for 2016

The back-and-forth contest between a Maryland legal and social landscape influenced by religion and one free of religious aspects gets renewed in the Assembly each session, with mostly limited bills submitted on both sides. Mathew Goldstein offers a look at the state of play this year.

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Maryland Could Lead the Nation on Police Reform

Advocates for significant reform of police accountability measures in Maryland -- in the wake of notable instance of police misconduct -- packed a hearing in Annapolis as Assembly members fashioned a package for change.

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The Joy of Citizen Lobbying

Trekking to Annapolis to lobby your legislators face to face is a somewhat scripted ritual, yes. But it often has an effect, and has other compensations.

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WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED FROM THE BLOGS: An Index, June 2015 to the present

Bloggers for Progressive Maryland have covered the range of local, state and national issues important to PM activists in 42 posts since last June. Here's an index and summary of the posts so you can catch up.

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STATE EITC BOOST COULD HELP SUPPORT HOUSEHOLDS AND KIDS RIGHT FROM THE START

The Earned Income Tax Credit already helps remedy our income inequality -- but state action in the Assembly could help it support even more households and struggling children, says educator Rosalyn Turner.

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ASSEMBLY’S FINAL VETO OVERRIDE GIVES RETURNING CITIZENS THE VOTE

One of Progressive Maryland’s top legislative priorities, voting rights for those returned to society from incarceration, was sealed Feb. 9 by the Senate override of Gov. Larry Hogan's 2015 veto.

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Union-Community Unity Leads to 700 Jobs Saved in Prince George’s

A mega-grocery company's backsliding after getting public benefits brought unity between workers, the community and local officials that forged a favorable outcome in a struggle with the hedge-fund mentality.

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MONTCO COUNCIL STRENGTHENS ENFORCEMENT ON LIVING WAGE LAW

Montgomery County's Living Wage law raised wages for employees of county contractors -- but some slick operators were cheating their employees without penalty. The County Council passed a strong enforcement package Feb. 2 to prevent this abuse.

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PM cheers family-friendly paid sick leave bills in Assembly

Progressive Maryland and allied activist groups cheered Wednesday's introduction of bills in both Assembly chambers requiring employers statewide to offer paid sick leave to many of the 700,000 Maryland workers who now have to choose between work and a sick child.

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Efforts to Roll Back LGBT Progress Continue in ‘Religious Liberty’ Bills

Marriage equality and other major cultural breakthroughs have been a significant human rights accomplishment of recent years, but there are constant attempts to use flimsy "religious liberty" arguments to roll those advances back. Matthew Snider notes one such effort in this year's Maryland General Assembly session.

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