UM grad assistants lose bid in Assembly for collective bargaining
The struggle for workplace rights happens across all parts of working Maryland. A requirement for paid sick leave finally won this year after many years of battle in the Assembly, overriding a veto from Gov. Larry Hogan. But others face further struggle. The UMD Diamondback reports here that UMD graduate assistants have lost -- at least for this year -- their attempt to get a law allowing them collective bargaining rights with the University system.
Read moreMoCo stormwater management: Fix problems, don't make new ones
Montgomery County doesn’t have a choice about proceeding full speed ahead to do active stormwater collection and infiltration, observes advocate Kit Gage. So why does County Executive Ike Leggett advocate stopping many projects and needlessly re-inventing the process?
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It's partisanship, not ideology, that we must avoid
For a revolution against the 1% to succeed, ideology will be crucial, Hal Ginsberg argues. But partisanship must be strenuously resisted. Resisters must avoid the temptation to view every Trump voter as an unreconstructed ignorant, sexist, racist, xenophobe. Bernie backers will have to forestall the impulse to chastise Hillary Clinton at every turn for blowing the election and Clinton’s claque needs to acknowledge that it wasn’t her turn.
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Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for April 9-16 2018
Welcome to the Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, April 9 to Monday, April 16 (and beyond). This is the full version of the Memo. If you subscribe to the email version of the Memo you get a trim, brief and easy to scan version with plenty of links leading you to the information you want (you can sign up to get that every week here.)
Read moreAssembly's Black Caucus joins fight against harsh crime bill
The Assembly's Legislative Black Caucus has strongly opposed SB 122, a supposed crime reform bill that brings us back to the days of harsh penalties, mandatory minimum sentences and hyper-empowered prosecutors. Tell your delegates that it shouldn't get passed in the House.
Read moreTell Prince George's Council "no concrete batch plant" April 16
Monday April 16, tell the Prince George’s County Council: Our Community deserves clean air, clean water and safe streets! We oppose building a CONCRETE BATCHING PLANT across from the Bladensburg Waterfront Park in Bladensburg, MD.
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Read moreSB122, Senate crime bill, should not get out of the House
Progressive Maryland continues to oppose the provisions of Senate Bill 122, a so-called omnibus crime bill that wraps some funding sweeteners together with Draconian sentencing requirements making Maryland’s already oppressive system of mandatory minimum sentences even worse. It needs to be opposed on the floor of Maryland’s House of Delegates, and by voters throughout the state.
Read moreProgressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, April 2 to Monday, April 9
The PROGRESSIVE MARYLAND WEEKLY MEMO FOR APRIL 2-9 with canvassing, movement politics, statewide chapter action, allies calendar, links to this week's blog posts and more. This is the full version; the emailed Weekly Memo is trim and easy to scan with links to full accounts. BTW you can sign up for that here.
Read moreBernie's spotty endorsement record: bypassing economic justice champs
Sen. Bernie Sanders has a spotty endorsement record, with clear instances where he has overlooked solid pro-union, economic justice candidates like Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania but picked a number of people who checked all the progressive boxes but didn't get across the finish line.
Successful candidates, Hal Ginsberg argues, will champion unions and job protection, and forswear corporate contributions.
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Read moreCan public-private partnerships really handle stormwater runoff?
MoCo executive Ike Leggett proposes to have stormwater runoff managed through public-private partnerships. Do these have the juice to make the Bay cleaner?
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