Happy Monday—and happy Victory Monday to all Ravens and Commanders fans!

As we celebrate those wins on the field, much of the political chatter this week is focused on the challenges and transitions shaping Maryland and D.C. In Maryland, Governor Moore’s administration is grappling with the effects of the state’s budget shortfall and local municipalities are preparing for special elections. Meanwhile, in D.C., discussions center around President Biden’s final days in office and the transition to a Trump administration, set to begin in exactly one week.

As progressives, our priorities have always been rooted in supporting working families and advancing social equity. While the incoming Trump administration will undoubtedly attempt to undermine our progress and future agendas, our work does not stop. We are more committed than ever to securing bold, progressive policies at the state level.

Last Wednesday marked the start of Maryland’s 2025 legislative session, and both the Senate and House reconvene today. We’re already hard at work advocating for our priority bills, and we’d love for you to join us at our Rally for the Reclaim Renewable Energy Act on Thursday, January 23rd in Annapolis. Click here to RSVP and join us!

You’ll also find details from the first meetings related to our legislative efforts in our Legislative Updates section.

Read on for more updates from our issue campaigns and task forces, as well as key local and state news and opportunities to get involved.

In solidarity,

The Progressive Maryland Team

The Maryland General Assembly kicked off its 2025 session this past Wednesday and the bill hopper is filling up despite hopes that the workload can be reduced (endless committee hearings) and the end of the regular session can see the passage of bills that will keep the state afloat despite a formidable current revenue deficit. Read on below about how this is being handled by the Governor and the top officers in House and Senate.

There's much more about Maryland, the other 49 states' good or bad examples, and the imminent change of administrations (brrr). Read all about it in News You Can Use.

We hope you had a restful holiday break and are staying cozy and safe today in this weather. A snow day feels fitting for kicking off the new year—complete with the Maryland Legislative Session just around the corner and exciting football playoffs ahead (go Ravens and Commanders!).

We’re back from the break and gearing up for a monumental start to 2025. The Maryland General Assembly convenes this Wednesday, January 8, at 12 PM, officially launching the legislative session. Our team has been working tirelessly on the priorities we shared at December’s Making Meaning event, advocating for bold new bills and rallying support for previous ones that didn’t make it out last year.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR PRIORITIES AND HOW WE WILL MAKE THEM REAL -- READ ON.

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Lawmakers, just like the rest of us, were greeted on the opening of the first real week of 2025 by a rather impressive snowstorm, which we shared with many other parts of the country. It might give the lawmakers, like the rest of us, breathing space to consider just what we are up to as the year that ends the first quarter of the 21st century begins to complete itself.

In Maryland and elsewhere, a little thought before action is always recommended.

The calendar of busyness around the country is full: "The first three months of an odd year is the busiest quarter of a legislative cycle. By the end of January, 44 states will have kicked off their sessions," we were reminded by our friends at the Pluribus news outlet in our Weekender just this past Saturday. Check that out, as well as our Boxing Day catchup post to make sure you didn't miss an important newsbreak affecting you and your community.

States and their lawmakers are getting ready for the scuffle, and Congress is trying to figure out how not to trip over their own majorities as the always-gyrating MAGA forces assemble their crew. We'll keep you aware of the serious side of the circus right here in News You Can Use.

Have you missed your News You Can Use? We are doing our best not to let this stuff pile up on us, so here is another roundup of the news from Maryland, the other 49 states and even the lumbering 119th Congress, which just got underway today with the rather lurching re-election of House Speaker Johnson (good luck with the Freedom Caucus, now led by our own Rep. Andy Harris, O Mr. Speaker).

We'll see you again this Monday with the return of the Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo, but meanwhile here's a weekender to get you fresh for the fight in 2025.

Local news keeps the flame of community activism lit at every level, in Maryland and elsewhere. News You Can Use is a continuing part of the service Progressive Maryland staff and volunteers try to provide every week to make sure progressive Marylanders get the information they need to stay on top of events and not be distracted by gossip or disinformation (not that they aren't fun, but hey...).

Today is called Boxing Day in England and elsewhere -- a day when neighbors carry gifts to one another door to door. It's not a practice in the US because, alas, in many cases we have ceased to know our neighbors well, meaning they are unfamiliar to us, one step away from being suspicious. The unpleasant national government we are about to begin dealing with may be a result of that loss of connection. Local news can, and sometimes does, combat that national illness.

So do we make up all this stuff in News You Can Use? Nope, obviously, since we source each item. Our job is to select the good stuff, which we hope we succeed in doing. But where do we get these gems? Maryland has two invaluable sources of nonprofit news, Maryland Reporter and Maryland Matters, both of which are worth your donations at this time of year. Many of our larger counties have local efforts, profit or nonprofit, that keep an even closer eye on county councils, etc.; for instance the Patch online outlets. The excellent student reporting operation at Merrill College of Journalism at UMCP -- Capital News Service -- digs into Maryland issues as well as those encompassing state and national governance, politics and culture. How other states and local governments deal with issues that are also on our plates in Maryland can give us ideas about what (or what not) to do about them. We gather well-sourced articles in that area, as well, from operations like Pluribus, Stateline Daily and Route Fifty. We also pass along tidbits -- well-sourced gossip, actually -- that frequently turns up in newsletters like POLITICO Playbook, Semafor and other freebies. And you don't have to rely on our choices from this multitude of info-firehoses -- just check them out yourself on your favorite search engine. News You Can Use also regularly picks up the progressive federal/Congress perspective newsblast from People's Action, the national affiliate of Progressive Maryland.

We'll keep watching for News You Can Use as it goes by in 2025. Have a happy Boxing Day and give your neighbors a chance to show how they, like you, can be trustworthy allies in making things better.

In the coming year, we'll have to make unprecedented choices, as a nation and in every community, about who we want to be.

But we know how to fight the fight. No learning curve needed; struggle means gains.

In 2024, you made millions of phone calls, knocked on hundreds of thousands of doors, and held meaningful conversations all across the country with complete strangers to change hearts and minds. You elected champions from your communities to state, local and federal governments, where they will fight for regular people, no matter the odds. You took time to listen to one another, and to imagine, together, how our lives will be better if we set aside fear and divisions.

This is what gives me hope as we look towards 2025. Because I know we will always be stronger together. You show me time and again that we have the strength and courage to reach across differences and come together with our neighbors in the shared humanity that unites us.

Sulma Arias, executive director of People's Action (national affiliate of Progressive Maryland)

This is a response to UnitedHealth Group C.E.O.: The Health Care System Is Flawed. Let’s Fix It.an OpEd in the New York Times published on December 13, 2024 written by Andrew Witty. This response is written by Progressive Maryland leader Emily Leonard, resident of Baltimore.

Healthcare executives like UnitedHealth Group's CEO Sir Andrew Witty want us to believe that health insurance claims denials happen because our current system is a "patchwork." He claims his company wants it to be better. But I want to make this very clear: this "patchwork" is broken by design, and that is how UnitedHealth Group made 22.3 billion dollars in profit in 2023. A company benefiting from such dysfunction has no incentive to make conditions better for those who are suffering. Calling healthcare "complicated" is an excuse. An excuse that causes immense human suffering.

Better health outcomes won't come from some C-Suite executive making decisions about human lives. Better health outcomes will come when clinicians are free to make decisions about patient care, unencumbered by corporate interests who want to increase their bottom line. I agree, Mr. Witty, our system doesn't work as well as it should, but your company will never be part of the solution. Your company is the problem.

We’ve made it to our 50th and final memo of the year! For 50 weeks, you’ve come back to hear about what we’ve been up to, celebrate milestones, tackle challenges, and move forward together. Thank you for being part of this journey with us. Your support and engagement fuel everything we do, and we couldn’t be prouder to share these updates with you each week.

Tonight, we’re hosting our final statewide event of the year: Making Meaning. This virtual gathering at 6 PM is a chance to reflect on 2024, strategize for protecting and advancing progressive policies in Maryland, and hear from inspiring leaders like Sulma Arias (People’s Action) and Will Jawando (Montgomery County Council). Don’t miss it—RSVP here

Looking ahead to tomorrow, tune in at 11 AM to WPFW 89.3 FM (or listen online at wpfwfm.org) for the final radio show of the year with our Executive Director, Larry Stafford.

Read on for exciting updates and events from our chapters and issue campaigns, along with what’s on the horizon for Progressive Maryland in 2025. And don't forget to check out our End of Year TikTok! 

Please note our offices will be closed from December 20th until January 6th. We’ll be back in the new year, energized and ready to keep building a better Maryland together.

Wishing you happiness, joy, and peace this holiday season. 

Until next year,

The Progressive Maryland Team.

Money is on everyone's mind in the Maryland power structure after Gov. Moore's appearance at the Maryland Association of Counties' winter conference this past weekend. He did not bring good news about the state budget, and that was gloom-inducing among the counties that, to various extents, depend on state aid -- especially for schools. The companion story about implementing the state's ambitious Blueprint for school improvement is, as the reader might expect, also endangered. And news on the state's climate goals is not good either, as an administration that does not see climate change as a problem prepares to take charge in D.C. We wish that there were less depressing news cascading down during the holiday season, for sure, but that what we've got to offer. Marylanders, we note with hope, are good at finding their own good cheer -- we're counting on that. Twenty Twenty-Five will be an interesting year and one in which organized fight-back may be on the agenda. Enjoy your holidays but count yourselves all.in.for.2025.