As a Federal Worker, I am Angry.

My name is Maxwell. I’m a federal worker here in Maryland, and here’s what’s happening within the government. The onslaught of Elon Musk and Trump’s combined efforts to denigrate and intimidate not just me and my colleagues, but all federal workers has created a sense of disgust and paranoia that has been impossible to shake. Every day, I watch colleagues and friends lose their jobs as essential agencies are gutted and positions are slashed. I still have my job—for now—but it feels like the ground beneath me could give way at any moment. 

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Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, April 21, 2025

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Ten years ago, on April 19, 2015, Baltimore was shaken by the death of Freddie Gray—a 25-year-old Black man whose death was ruled a homicide after he suffered fatal spinal injuries while in police custody. Arrested without cause and subjected to a “rough ride” in the back of a police van, Freddie’s killing sparked a movement, both in the streets and in the hearts of communities across Maryland, demanding an end to police violence and real accountability in our justice system.

 

And yet, a decade later, we are still fighting for justice.The officers involved were never held accountable. They were allowed to move on with their lives, while Freddie Gray never got that chance. His family is still living with the pain, and our community is still grieving the loss.

 

This week, we remember Freddie. We remember the uprising. And we remember the power of people demanding better. At Progressive Maryland, we remain committed to that demand—for real justice, for transformative reform, and for a public safety system that actually serves our communities instead of harming them.

 

Read on for important updates from our issue campaigns and news you can use.

 

In solidarity, the Progressive Maryland team

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News You Can Use: State and Fed-level struggles continue on deportations, fund cutoffs and other probably illegal Trump behavior

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Courts in Maryland, Richmond and the capital continue to struggle with the outlandish stances of Trump and his minions -- on immigration/deportation and ICE's increasingly gestapo-ish role;on funding cutoffs used for bullying behavior modification, on slashing the federal workforce and erecting tariff-barriers that will never in our lifetimes bring offshored factories back to US soil, on deliberate efforts to add ever more carbon to the planet's air. And more. And Pope Francis, an anchor of decency regardless of faith or its absence, made it to Easter but not beyond. Feeling left behind? Solidarity is required, more than ever, as we look at a worse-than-usual week of News You Can Use.

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Major Wins & Real Challenges: 2025 Housing Legislation Wrap-Up

As the 2025 Maryland General Assembly session came to a close, Renters United Maryland is reflecting on the progress made—and the work still ahead—in the fight for housing justice.

This year brought some hard-earned victories for renters across the state, as well as sobering reminders of the continued challenges in securing safe, stable, and affordable housing for all Marylanders.

Here’s a look at the key legislative outcomes impacting tenants this session:

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A Win for Baltimore, A Win for Justice

My name is Mary Randall, and I’ve lived in Baltimore City my entire life. I love my city. It’s a place of resilience, community, and beauty. But, if you live here, you also know how often we’re asked to carry burdens that others don’t. For years, trash incineration has been one of those burdens.

For years, those of us living near the incinerators were told that this was a necessary part of managing waste and creating energy. But that’s not the full story. Trash incineration creates more pollution than coal plants. It’s not clean, and it’s certainly not renewable. Yet it received subsidies meant for actual renewable energy sources like wind and solar. Worse, this pollution disproportionately impacted neighborhoods like mine, where working-class Black and brown families are more likely to live. It felt like we were being sacrificed for the sake of profits.

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Progressive Maryland Celebrates Victory in Years-Long Fight to End Subsidies for Trash Incineration

State Legislation Marks Major Step Toward Environmental Justice in Baltimore and Beyond

Annapolis, MD—After years of grassroots organizing and community-led advocacy, Progressive Maryland members are celebrating a significant milestone for environmental justice and clean energy advocacy with the Maryland General Assembly's decision to end subsidies for trash incineration. Trash incineration will be officially removed from Maryland’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, marking a pivotal moment in the fight for cleaner air and healthier communities across the state. This means that ratepayer money will no longer be used to subsidize trash burning, which has long polluted the air in majority-Black neighborhoods.

“South Baltimore has been in this fight for a long time, and we are just relieved to see the removal of subsidies for trash incineration,” said Jennifer Mendes Dwyer, Deputy Executive Director of Progressive Maryland. “This is undeniably a victory for public health and ending environmental racism in our state.”

This achievement is a result of our persistent advocacy in which we began ramping up our environmental justice campaign in 2022 with the formation of a community-based task force in Southwest Baltimore focused on ending government support for incineration. Our Environmental Justice Task Force leaders have spent years knocking doors, educating neighbors, organizing town halls, building coalitions and submitting legislative testimony. We’ve been organizing with and for the communities who’ve suffered the worst impacts of toxic air pollution and decades of environmental racism and neglect. 

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Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, April 14, 2025

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It's been one week since legislative session ended and we’ve been taking stock of all that happened in Annapolis. As we reflect on the wins and losses, one thing is clear: we are incredibly proud of this community and everything we accomplished together.

 

This year, we came together to fight for bold, progressive policies in environmental justice, housing, healthcare, criminal justice, and education. Whether it was signing petitions, sending letters to legislators, making calls, or showing up to rallies, you made this movement stronger.

 

It was a tough legislative season, but thanks to your support and the tireless work of our staff and community leaders, we achieved more victories this session than we did last year.

We’re especially proud to have finally ended subsidies for trash incineration in Maryland—a fight we’ve taken up year after year. Several of our key healthcare priorities also passed and are now headed to the Governor’s desk, along with a number of other progressive wins.

 

We’re so proud of our organizers, members, and volunteers who spent countless hours in Annapolis advocating for working families across the state. When we hosted our lobby night in February-in place of our usual membership assembly-you showed up and showed out. From rallying on Lawyers Mall to sharing personal stories in meetings with lawmakers, you brought power and passion to every moment.

 

Fighting for justice takes time, energy, and heart and we’re deeply grateful for every person who contributed in big and small ways this session.

 

You can check out our legislative updates section below for a fuller recap of what happened this year.

 

While session may be over, we know the work doesn’t stop. We’re still up against national and statewide challenges that demand our attention and our organizing. As we transition into spring organizing, we’ve got important updates, opportunities to take action, and more news you can use—so read on.

 

In solidarity,

The Progressive Maryland Team

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News You Can Use: Winners and losers in MD Assembly Session; nothing but losers in chaotic trade wars

NUCU_logo_new.pngThis week, Marylanders' eyes shuttle back and forth between weighing the work (and failures) of the just-completed General Assembly session and the outrages of the latest Trump follies and lawlessness. The Orange Menace has bypassed Congress's role in setting tariffs, recklessly setting and unsetting tariff rates to the great disadvantage of US economic standing as well as perceptions here and overseas about the sanity and stability of national leadership. Trump and others' behavior during the wild gyrations of tariff-setting has raised questions about market manipulation and insider trading. Even more lawlessly, having kidnapped a legal Maryland resident and dumped him in a notoriously brutal prison in El Salvador, Trump and his minions claim they have no duty to seek his return.

The General Assembly appears to have preserved the Blueprint plan for the state's education system more or less intact and delivered a balanced budget despite a revenue deficit, but there were many failures of nerve and succumbing to the blandishments of lobbyists as well. Next year the Assembly members face election or re-election (many were appointed to vacancies but have not yet faced the voters) and they are dodging any appearance of the burning of bridges with potential donors.

It's News You Can Use.

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Maryland General Assembly Falls Short in Advancing Measures to Keep Families Housed and Hold Landlords Accountable

Maryland General Assembly Falls Short in Advancing Measures to Keep Families Housed and Hold Landlords Accountable

Despite Overwhelming Support from Local Officials and Advocates, Senate Leadership Caves to Landlord Lobbyists and Blocks Protections for Renters

Annapolis, MD- Amid a growing housing crisis and a looming recession, the Maryland Senate refused to pass Good Cause Eviction – the one housing bill pending that has been proven in other jurisdictions to reduce evictions and displacement while holding corporate landlords accountable. Good Cause Eviction (SB 651/HB 709), which was passed by the House of Delegates last year and has passed in 8 other states and 23 localities, would have allowed counties to require that corporate landlords provide renting families a legitimate reason for any eviction. The General Assembly also cut the budget for eviction prevention funds by 50% at a time when renting families need this support the most. Despite this resistance, Renters United Maryland (RUM) and legislative allies passed key policies that advance housing justice, including a measure that will provide tenants with advance notice of any scheduled eviction date so that tenants can plan and prepare to lessen the catastrophic effects of eviction.

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Maryland General Assembly Eliminates Trash Incineration from the State Renewable Portfolio Standard

Maryland General Assembly Eliminates Trash Incineration 
from the State Renewable Portfolio Standard
Long demanded by community leaders on the frontlines of fighting incinerators in Maryland, this policy will end state subsidies and greenwashing for polluting trash incinerators and redirect those investments toward renewable energy. Maryland has become the second state in the country, behind only California, to delete trash incineration from its Renewable Portfolio Standard.
Annapolis, MD- The Maryland General Assembly has passed legislation ending Maryland’s misclassification of trash incineration as “renewable energy.” By deleting “waste-to-energy” and “refuse-derived fuel” from the state Renewable Portfolio Standard, Maryland will end its practice of subsidizing companies that burn trash by millions of dollars per year, redirecting those funds toward investments in renewable energy. 
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