THE SHUTDOWN drags on, heading for a record tomorrow night (!) and hammering Maryland's multitudes of federal employees and contractors. Maryland -- and other states, we see -- are taking special note of the Nov. 1 lapse of SNAP benefits for a total of 42 million folks nationwide -- which, despite several Federal judges' rulings, the Trump administration said Monday it will not fully replace with emergency funds, meaning eligible recipients will get about half the usual SNAP allotments during the Congressional impasse.
HERE IN MARYLAND
Top Dems Push for Ocean City Offshore Wind Project: Advocates and lawmakers gathered in Baltimore on Friday to punch back at President Donald Trump’s assault on offshore wind projects, including one planned for Maryland’s coast. Until Friday, the battle had largely played out in warring court documents traded between the Trump administration and US Wind, the company behind the proposal for up to 121 turbines off the coast of Ocean City. Maryland Matters.
>>Top Maryland Democrats are coming out in full force to support a massive offshore wind project currently tied up in federal court. Baltimore-based US Wind has faced an onslaught of challenges in recent months keeping the company from starting construction on a 114-turbine wind farm off the coast of Ocean City, which is estimated to generate enough power for 718,000 Maryland homes. WYPR-FM.
>>Permits to develop wind farms off the coast of Delaware and Maryland were secured in 2024. However, moving forward is challenging because of Trump administration policies that prop up fossil fuels. WBAL-TV News.
With Open Enrollment, Health Advocates Urge Caution: As Marylanders start to navigate the open enrollment period for health insurance, state officials are pointing out that higher costs aren’t the only changes that could trip people up. “We encourage everybody to come back in and look at their plan, make sure the plan makes sense for your needs, for your family’s need,” Michele Eberle, of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, said on Friday. Maryland Matters.
Maryland Judge OKs Abrego Garcia's Move To Nashville: A federal judge in Maryland on Friday approved the transfer of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from immigration detention in Pennsylvania to Nashville, Tenn., for a multi-day hearing in his criminal case brought by the Trump administration after an erroneous deportation to El Salvador. Maryland Matters.
THE REGION/THE OTHER 49-ISH
Design smooths conflict between growing crops and solar farming
Birds, bees and sheep are finding homes underneath solar panels as people find ways to continue using farmland that hosts solar arrays. The Piedmont Environmental Council has taken that idea a step further by building the first solar installation in Virginia that was designed to also grow food. Their first harvest was on Oct. 17. The organization hopes to smooth out the relationship between the solar industry and agricultural community as the distaste for large solar projects grows in rural Virginia. Bay Journal
Flight delays, airport disruption fears grow as government shutdown drags on
As air traffic controllers and TSA officers continue to work without pay, the White House warns that delays and cancellations could snarl Thanksgiving travel. WaPo
SHUTDOWN: A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to use contingency funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to pay out SNAP benefits for November. But even if the administration swiftly complies, it will take days to process transfers from the federal government and load them onto electronic benefit transfer cards, meaning a delay for those who rely on food assistance. Some governors, primarily Democrats, are taking steps to fill the void. Those extra steps mainly involve funding for food banks, rather than covering benefits. Governors in Vermont, Ohio, Virginia, Rhode Island, Arizona and New Mexico have allocated funding to cover at least some portion of the missing benefits. Pluribus News (paywalled)
The ‘hard, slow work’ of reducing overdose deaths is having an effect -- Deaths have dropped steadily since 2023, but some states are still seeing spikes.
Illicit drug overdoses and the deaths they cause are trending down this year, despite spikes in a handful of states, according to a Stateline analysis of data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A handful of places with rising overdoses are responding to the problem with cooperation, they say, by sharing information about overdose surges and distributing emergency medication. Stateline Daily
36: The number of states that have limited or banned the use of cell phones in schools, after Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) signed bipartisan legislation on Friday. (Wisconsin Examiner) via Pluribus
COMMUNITY SCIENTISTS: In a bid to get more information about the impacts of industrial pollution, Louisiana communities are taking data collection into their own hands, despite a law restricting how their findings can be used to enforce state regulations. The practice, called community or participatory science, involves data collected by non-scientists that’s shared with researchers, according to the Louisiana Illuminator. Stateline Daily [The Mississippi stretch from New Orleans to Baton Rouge hosts 200 chemical and petroleum plants and is known as Cancer Alley. State officials have perennially looked the other way about the hazards].
NEXT DOOR DEPARTMENT: Virginia Senate approves mid-decade redistricting amendment | Virginia Mercury
GLOBAL, NATIONAL, AND THE FEDS
BRAIN DRAIN: The European Union has received a record number of academic grant applications in 2025, including a tripling of US bids following President Donald Trump’s attack on higher education. Trump ‘s pressure on top and mid-level US universities -- funding cuts and restrictions on research, bellows of “woke” culture on campus. -- so other countries have sought to lure researchers from American universities. Experts fear the “scientific brain drain” risks the US falling behind, with 75% of researchers considering leaving the country, according to a poll by Nature. Semafor
JUST WHAT WE NEEDED TO HEAR: Top 10 US billionaires’ wealth grew by $698bn in past year -- Oxfam warns in report that Trump policies risk driving inequality to new heights, while noting Democrats have also exacerbated wealth gap. The Guardian
US CLOCKS “FELL BACK” THIS WEEKEND, sparking the annual discussion about whether daylight saving time should be canceled for good. It was adopted fully in 1966. But most Americans want it to stop, recent polling found, although they disagree over whether they want standard or daylight saving hours year-round. Britain and the EU have similar disputes but still change their clocks twice a year. Semafor [no spring debate on time change? Maybe losing an hour takes away time to disagree. Hmmmm]
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Here is Megan E's dispatch on federal-level doings (such as they are this week of stasis]. She is federal affairs director for People's Action, Progressive Maryland's national affiliate:
Hello People's Action!
On Friday, two federal judges in separate lawsuits ordered the Trump administration to at least use the contingency funds to fund SNAP. The contingency funds will cover ⅔ of the November SNAP costs and the judges said the administration could use other funds to full fund SNAP. One of the judges order the administration to report to the judge on whether they would be partially or fully funding SNAP. [It'll be partial funding, see above]
Open enrollment for Affordable Care Act health care plans began nationwide on the first. When people log-in they can see their premiums double in most places - in New Jersey some enrollees will see a 175% increase. I encourage your organization to post examples of the health care premium increases.
The government shutdown will be the longest ever as of tomorrow night. While the House of Representatives has been on vacation for 45 days, there are some discussions on a path forward. Some rank and file Senators from both parties are discussing a path forward. Speaker Johnson is beginning discussions on a new continuing resolution to fund the government through March and maybe pass a few of the funding bills. Trump has called for an end to the filibuster in the Senate, but Republican Majority Leader Thune is resisting. He also signaled Republicans might be open to negotiating health care money after Democrats vote to reopen the government.
Congratulations to WV Citizen Action Group for suing the West Virginia government for its illegal deployment of the National Guard to Washington, DC.
Tomorrow is election day in NJ, VA, CA and New York City and the two parties are looking to draw conclusions based on the results. The New Jersey governor's race is looking to be closer than expected.
Trump's approval ratings are are down with only 37% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, while 62% disapprove. 45% of Americans blame Republicans for the shutdown compared to 33% who blame Democrats.
In solidarity,
Megan