As we near the end of another month filled with capricious weather, it's important to take stock of what's been happening in Maryland, especially when it comes to the issues that matter most to progressives. From drug policy and health justice to environmental justice and grassroots organizing, there's always a lot to keep up with in our communities at the local and state level. That's why we're excited to share our new legislative session wrap-up, which provides a comprehensive look at the wins, losses, and disappointments of the 2023 session. A full wrap-up of the session is available on our blog and we hope you will take the time to check it out and stay informed! But our work doesn't stop there. Stay tuned for more exciting announcements of new initiatives we’re launching. Please get involved in our efforts and be sure to check out our chapter and taskforce work, upcoming events, and actions you can take later on in the memo.

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Governor Moore is ceremoniously signing some of his topline bills and the Assembly is taking a deep breath and realizing they don't have to wait for a Larry Hogan bombing run to see what vetoes they need to override next session. Some progressive allies are cheering how many of their bills made it. The rent is too damn high everywhere but even higher here, if you were wondering. And just when you think one school board story has quieted down, another one heats up. And more progressive news you can use.

Happy Earth Week! As we come together this week to celebrate our planet, we’re given the opportunity to highlight the intersectionality of environmental issues and social justice. It's important to recognize that the fight for a sustainable future goes beyond just planting trees and reducing plastic waste. It also encompasses the need for equitable and inclusive environmental policies and practices that address the disproportionate impacts of environmental degradation on marginalized communities. While the legislature failed to pass some critically important environmental laws for our state this year, our work in environmental justice is not done. So, as we commemorate Earth Week, let's not only celebrate the beauty of our planet, but let’s also raise awareness, take action, and promote environmental justice as an integral part of our commitment to protecting our precious planet. Check out our Earth Day events section of the memo for ways to get involved!

Now that the legislative session has come to an end, we’re pivoting to focus on organization building, launching new initiatives, expanding our task force work, and building more chapters and coalitions across the state. Look out for more announcements as we continue to advocate for progressive policies and create positive change in our state.

Don’t forget to check out the Blog section of our memo each week to check out news you can use! This week’s piece is loaded with plenty of updates from our state and other parts of the country! 

Maryland, like many states, has a springtime legislative session -- and, like ours, many are wrapping up now and seeking governors's signatures on their hard-forged bills. We feature several takes on what the Assembly accomplished as well as some tidbits from other states legislative bodies that echo Maryland's concerns but may well show opposite tendencies. And Congress is back at work with the GOP caucus in the House still trying to leverage the potential for a US debt default to slash social services and roll back some of Joe Biden's accomplishments. For all of these consequential issues, we can only say,stay tuned. But our legislative session is a wrap and the next metric is what the Moore administration makes of the results. We'll be watching; you should too.

Utility Dive, an online business newsletter about, well, utilities, keeps a close eye on changes in electric power companies and the grid, more in the news all the time. The newsletter reports here on a study about us and our near-dozen neighboring states in the deal called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a cap-and-trade plan that collects revenue from carbon-emitting power sources (and so incentivizes their replacement). The report is outlined below, and shows that Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's knee-jerk attempt to reverse former Gov. Ralph Northam's ushering in of Virginia to the compact is (to be kind) misguided. Dominion Power, which owns a lot of Virginia lawmakers, of course finds RGGI a pain. Read more about a setup that could be a pathway to our grid keeping up with the surging need for electric power in the face of climate catastrophe.

Today is Sine Die, the final day of the Maryland Legislative Session until it reconvenes next year in January 2024. Lawmakers will be on the floor all night to get any outstanding votes completed and move the last bills across the finish line as the General Assembly prepares to adjourn at midnight. 

We’re currently assessing our wins and losses from the legislative session and are already beginning to prepare for next year. While there were some victories, there were also some disappointments in the failure of our legislators to pass important progressive bills. While these setbacks are frustrating, we remain committed to continuing the fight for these issues in the future by continuing to build power and engage more people in the political process. Check out the legislative updates section for a more detailed review and update of this year’s session as well as critical actions you can take, like calling for Access To Care, before midnight tonight. 

Let us continue to work together toward a more just, equitable, and prosperous future for our state. Check out this week’s Memo for plenty of updates, events, actions to take, and news you can use!

It’s Sine Die, the day that the 2023 General Assembly session will gavel to a close for this year, somewhere around midnight.

Good work got done -- but some important stuff was overlooked. A bill called Access to Care, which would give about a quarter-million Marylanders a chance to buy health insurance on the exchange that they can’t access now because of their immigration status, is stuck in the Senate Finance committee.

Recreational Marijuana can go on sale July 1 (see below), but a provision insuring full labor rights for employees is missing.

That is some of the News You Can Use, with more below.

And totally off the radar for the Assembly (which will party down tonight, liquidly, after the gavel falls, a venerable tradition), Charles County officials are evicting members of the Cedarville Band of indigenous peoples from land they have occupied for thirty years, to the county’s cultural benefit and enrichment. The ACLU, fighting the eviction despite near-zero news coverage of the conflict, states

“The very fact that the Cedarville Band [had been] forced to lease this land that was forcibly stolen from them is offensive, let alone the impending eviction by the County.

Reversing course and stopping the eviction is the first step to recognizing the Cedarville Band’s humanity. Eviction of native people, from native land, is the tradition of genocide, not redemption.”

More below...

There’s only one week left of the Legislative Session and while we’ve taken some big losses this year on our priority bills, we have made significant progress on others. As you know, we've been working hard to advocate for policies that will make a meaningful difference in the lives of Marylanders, from affordable healthcare to criminal justice reform. 

With the session coming to a close on April 11, it's crucial that we continue to stay engaged and vocal about our priorities. We'll be closely monitoring the progress of some bills and working to build support among legislators and the public. We are proud of the work we have accomplished so far and remain committed to seeing these bills through to the end. We still need to push a few priority bills across the finish line and you can find quick actions you can take in our legislative updates section.

Your support is critical to our success, and we're grateful for everything you've done to help us push for a more progressive Maryland this session. Check out this week’s Memo for plenty of updates, events, actions to take, and news you can use!

Time to ask what’s getting left undone in the General Assembly: Rent relief and access to care

Maryland’s leaders are looking the other way on the question of shelter affordability. Who benefits? Greedy landlords.  

And Maryland's leaders are ignoring over a quarter-million Marylanders whose immigration status makes it hard-to-impossib le for them to qualify for health care.

Find out about these holes in the process -- and more -- in News You Can Use from Progressive Maryland...