Gov. Larry Hogan continues to flounder as a leader in Maryland while decked out in high, hyped ratings in the rest of the country -- fueled by his relentless book tour and his ubiquity on the cable shows.

Meanwhile he's responding to national GOP dog whistles on school openings (for the privileged) and scare tactics on a safe mail-in vote.

These are critical moments as Congress fumbles a foundation for working families' recovery, there's nobody in charge of quelling the pandemic, and Gov. Hogan resists the evidence that mail-in voting is the way to ensure everyone in Maryland's ability to vote in November.
We have tools for action at every level in this Monday's Memo. Build power, take charge.

Everyone who knows anything about risk management during a statewide election is urging Gov. Larry Hogan to reverse course and plan a mail-in election with limited in-person voting, as was done with the recent primary elections. They got together to say so yesterday, as this Maryland Matters account relates.

Hogan, instead, doesn't know anything (or chooses not to know) about risk management in an election and instead is following the time-honored election practices -- which instead favor Republicans, not working families -- backed by the corporate, Chamber of Commerce types whose support he needs to compete for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. Hogan is currently flogging his new book, which explicitly speculates about his opportunities in 2024.

Take Action: The GOP Senate is low-balling critical stimulus needs to keep working people afloat -- instead they want to drive workers back to unsafe jobs. See more below, and act as well to get Larry Hogan off his book tour and on the job, reversing course and giving Marylanders a safe mail-in election not a confusing barrage of absentee ballot requests. Plus chapter news, health care and transit still on the table and our recent blog posts -- all in the Monday Memo.

We mourn the loss of a genuine hero, Rep. John Lewis, and keep fighting. Here's what you need to know about the upcoming week -- it's all in the Memo.

photo by Mike Hogan -- Creative Commons

Reports on Larry Hogan's many ways of letting Marylanders down while basking in unearned praise in national media (pretty easy when you are compared to Trump). Plus a tough report from our national affiliate Progressive Action on how the struggle to emerge from the COVID trough (or not) is going. And reports and news from our chapters around the state and from our allies, and our most recent blog posts. All in the Weekly Memo today

Hogan budget cuts will leave Maryland still worse off; feds need help understanding that health care bills are critical; Re-entry meeting this week and meetings of chapters in Montgomery, Baltimore City, Frederick and Lower Shore coming up this week or soon. Plus events from our allies and a reprise of our most recent blog posts. It's all in the Memo.

As a racial, social, economic and environmental justice organization, Progressive Maryland has always and will continue to center Black and Brown working families in our organizing work. As we stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protests, we are ramping up our work with the Movement for Black Lives. 

"In a long-expected move, Governor Larry Hogan has submitted a long list of state budget cuts to the Board of Public Works. Cuts to state employee salaries and positions are getting a lot of attention. So is a proposed $200 million trim in state aid to public schools, although that needs the consent of the General Assembly to pass. What is less discussed is Hogan’s resumption of a time-honored practice used by higher level governments to dump their problems on lower level governments: the shift and shaft."

This post from Seventh State, a blog on Maryland government, by Adam Pagnucco has withering detail about what could happen at today's (July 1) meeting of the Board of Public Works, one of the features of Maryland's strong-executive constitution that gives governors power not only to set the budget but to mess with it every time the BPW meets.

A petition to get a Regional Transit Authority for Baltimore on the November ballot is gaining traction. If you are a Baltimore voter, sign the petition NOW -- the deadline is July 27 -- and help take control of local transit management and funding for Baltimoreans. Find out more in this article by Jaime Sigaran, a transit activist.