Cheverly, in Prince George's County, provides a model for many: The attention paid to mitigating climate change at the local level, we recognize, can jump-start some stagnant parts of our local, state and national economy.

Sophia Marjanovic, a Progressive Maryland activist in Montgomery County, spoke at the signing of MoCo’s $15/hr minimum wage measure Monday, Nov. 13. She described everyday life with no margin and the vulnerabilities that brings.

Having things to give thanks for has this imperative -- bring more good things to more people. That's you; that's us.

The health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries – and the health of Marylanders – is endangered by industrial-sourced stormwater runoff. Attention must be paid, as they say – but the state is not doing so, apparently looking the other way when big corporate polluters fail to report what the law requires, and underfunding the inspections that could keep them honest. Tim Wheeler of Bay Journal has chapter and verse here.

Well-intentioned proposals to reduce "food deserts" in Prince George's tiptoe around the wider inequity that brings on the county’s food security issues – residential segregation, not only by race any more but class, exacerbated by high-profit development that steadily erodes affordability of quality housing and isolates those communities further. A UMCP student's op-ed in the student newspaper highlights these effects, even in booming College Park.

The majority-Republican Congress "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" legislation is barreling down the legislative track. Some have referred to it as the "Job Cuts and Tax Act" because of how horrendous this tax plan will be for the bulk of Maryland residents. 

After a long fight, progressives including our Progressive Maryland stalwarts celebrated the signing of Montgomery County’s $15 minimum wage bill Monday. Progressive MoCo plans a celebration; see below.

Raskin and Pelosi rallied the crowd to cheers with their analysis of the GOP tax plan. Raskin attacked the plan for being largely composed of corporate giveaways. These include a drop in the corporate tax rate from 35% to 12% on income currently stashed overseas and 10% on profits from transnational activities. Deriding the bill as the “billionaire tax break and job cutting plan,” Raskin noted also that the Republican plan slashes $1.5 trillion from Medicare and Medicaid over a decade.

Three of Prince George’s County’s progressive-resistance organizations met in a profitable and friendly exchange Nov. 1 sponsored by PG Democratic Socialists of America organizing committee, Progressive Prince George’s and Our Revolution Prince George’s. It was a good mix of the three, thirty-plus activists there thanks to the courtesy of IBEW Local 26 in Lanham to hear Del. Jimmy Tarlau discuss the upcoming 2018 General Assembly session and what progressives could hope to press for.

Rockville, MD – This morning the Montgomery County Council unanimously passed Bill 28-17 to raise the minimum wage in Montgomery County from $11.50 an hour to $15 an hour. The bill would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour for employees of business of 51 or more people by 2021. The wage hike will reach businesses of 49 or less people by 2023 and business of 10 or fewer people by 2024. The passage includes a provision to index the minimum for inflation starting in 2022.