700,000 working Marylanders deserve earned, paid sick leave

Maryland General Assembly legislators will hold critical committee hearings this week on a bill granting nearly a quarter-million Maryland workers the right to earn paid sick leave on the job. It's important that those members hear how important this issue -- before them for the fourth year in a row -- is to the health of our citizens and our economy.

Read more
Share

Marylanders don’t turn away those in need – including refugees

Despite our governor's ill-natured refusal to give refugees from war and devastation a place in Maryland, we are not that kind of people, activist Jean Athey says. Urge your legislators to sign on to a letter affirming our state's welcoming nature,

Read more
Share

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.

Read more
Share

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.

Read more
Share

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.

Read more
Share

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.

Read more
Share

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.

Read more
Share

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.

Read more
Share

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.

Read more
Share

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.

Read more
Share