With the Holidays here, there a "case of the slows" * in the action around states. Maryland will begin its 90-day legislative session in early January (opening day is January 14)so don't put down your phones quite yet. The Maryland.gov site is "under construction" today, at least as far as legislation filed so far, but the hardworking Department of Legislative Services is beavering away on prep for the 2026 session and has interesting studies and audits to offer -- you can while away your time on that. Don't forget your county delegations to the Assembly will be meeting to discuss upcoming proposals so keep an eye open for that. Note below that as other states slowly assemble law providing for family leave policies, Maryland keeps dragging its legislative feet. 

Meanwhile about 20-ish states' attorneys general are suing the Trump gangsters for their constant flurry of budget cuts (seldom coordinated with Congress, supposedly the budget-and-appropriation branch of government). Our AG Anthony Brown is one of that coalition and as we read below, the serious harm done in Maryland and other states stemming from reckless cuts to housing subsidies would have drastic effects on keeping people securely sheltered during the coldest part of the year.

People's Action DC watcher Megan E also has her assessment of how things are going in DC. The worst news, we all know, had nothing to do with a helpless Congress or disobeyed judges, but with the tragic shootings of National Guard members who were posted to the nation's capital -- quite unnecessarily -- by Trump. His motive was to show off how a president can order people around (including those in uniform) at his whim. The result was the tragic death of a member of the West Virginia guard and life-threatening injuries to another. A suspect is in custody and we may find out his motive. But the suspect had nothing to do with the casual, show-off deployment of guard members in potential harm's way.

It's all News You Can Use. 

*attributed to President Lincoln, speaking of one of his generals

HERE IN MARYLAND

Summaries from Maryland Reporter

Maryland Energy Prices Rise Faster Than Virginia, For Now: Energy prices in Maryland have increased faster than in neighboring Virginia, though the leadership change coming to Virginia next year could have big energy implications for the mid-Atlantic region. Baltimore Sun.

Yes, Your Commute Is Worse -- and, Second Worst: Marylanders are spending more time on the road, with the state’s average one-way commute time rising to 31.5 minutes in 2023 – the second longest commute in the country, according to the latest Census Bureau data. Maryland trailed only New York, which posted an average commute time of 32.8 minutes in 2023, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. But the Maryland average was still more than it was in 2021, the survey said. Maryland Matters

MD National Guard Staff Abused At-Risk Teens, Complaints Say: At the Maryland National Guard Freestate Challenge Academy, a residential boot camp and educational program for at-risk and troubled youth owned and operated by the Guard, staff abused the teens in their care, according to court records and criminal complaints. The teens then, in turn, assaulted each other, even participating in an after-hours fight club.  Baltimore Sun.

Health Officials Urge Marylanders To Get Flu Vaccines: Holidays are a time for tradition, and for state officials and health advocates that means renewing the annual call for Marylanders to get vaccinated for respiratory illnesses ahead of holiday gatherings. But with a difficult influenza variant emerging this season, combined with contrary messaging from federal health agencies and an anticipated rise in vaccine hesitancy, public health experts worry that the 2025 flu season will be more challenging than in previous years. Maryland Matters.

Federal Ag Bill Would Be Christmas Gift to Struggling Farmers: Members of Congress entered 2025 optimistic that they could pass updated legislation to help farmers by the end of the year. They partially succeeded. But now, lawmakers fear that the government shutdown harmed the chances of finishing the job before Christmas. “They are having a very difficult, challenging time,” says Rep. April McClain Delaney, a Western Maryland Democrat and member of the House Agriculture Committee. “Budgetary pressures, operational pressures, decimated markets.” It’s a crisis.  Baltimore Sun.

Bay States Officials Consider Including Native Tribes in Cleanup Planning: When Chesapeake Bay governors and other leaders gather at the National Aquarium on Tuesday to consider the next bay clean-up agreement, they’ll be joined by leaders from several federally recognized Native American tribes in Virginia as state and federal leaders spend the next seven months determining whether the tribes can have a seat at the table as decisions are made about the bay. Maryland Matters.

AG Wins $2.5m Judgment Against Landlord For Harassment, Assault: Maryland’s Office of the Attorney General announced that its Civil Rights Division was awarded a $2.5 million judgment against an Eastern Shore landlord for sexually harassing and assaulting tenants. Baltimore Sun.

MD Joins 19 Other States to Contest Trump Housing Aid Cuts: Maryland joined a group of 20 states suing the Trump administration over cuts to federal housing aid that state officials say could increase homelessness by 25% statewide. The cuts will curtail the amount of grant funds available for permanent housing and renewals and focus instead on transitional housing and substance abuse treatment. The new HUD policy also places restrictions on organizations that can obtain grants, requiring them to adhere to the administration’s classification of gender identity. “These unlawful policies will force more than 4,000 Marylanders out of their homes,” said Attorney General Anthony G. Brown. “We’re filing this lawsuit to stop these reckless changes from pushing families onto the streets.” Baltimore Sun ALSO: Study Finds Threatened Housing Subsidies Aid Health: Federal housing subsidies can open doors to jobs, experiences and opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach. For some, housing subsidies also can mean the difference between life and death. A study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that older adults using federal housing assistance had earlier cancer diagnoses than those who didn’t get help with rent. Housing subsidies are under threat from President Donald Trump’s administration.  Baltimore Banner.

THE REGION AND THE OTHER 49

Mason & Dixon, call your office: The 110-mile border between Michigan and Indiana hasn’t been formally surveyed since 1827. No one has ever bothered to contest the border, though Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed legislation in 2022 authorizing a new survey. But after two requests for proposals, no one has been willing to take on the surveying project. (BridgeMI)

GLOBAL, NATIONAL AND THE FEDS

After Trump declared a "permanent pause" on immigration from “Third World Countries,” saying “we don’t want them. We don’t want those people,” Democrats see a particularly nasty politics here. “I take that as a message that they don't want brown people coming to the United States,” Sen. Mark Kelly said in the same NBC interview. “I find that disturbing.” NOTUS

Inflation and affordability are two of THE words of the moment, so the focus is on prices and their rise and fall. But Heidi Shierholz, writing for the renamed cable network MS.NOW, makes the case that decades-long suppression of workers' wages -- on a systematic basis -- make it tough, nearly impossible, for workers to keep above water in an economy that certainly looks good to Wall Street, but not to most of us.

The US Food and Drug Administration will make it harder to approve vaccines, after it said COVID-19 shots were linked to at least 10 children’s deaths. The alleged connection, reportedly made in an internal FDA memo, said that the deaths were caused by heart muscle inflammation, but no evidence has been released. The FDA’s vaccine regulatory chief said the new rules would make it much harder to authorize vaccines for pregnant women, and that trials would have to show a reduction in disease rather than biological responses such as generating antibodies. [The US has been conditioned by Trumpsters to be vaccine-suspicious already; this will not help. Measles is already making a comeback.] WaPo

Here's the weekly roundup on doings in D.C. from Megan E. She is federal affairs director for our national affiliate, People’s Action.

Hello People’s Action,

I hope you had a nice break and some time with family and friends. Here is the latest from DC: 

[This was Megan’s postscript to the major DC stuff but we will put it first!] Congratulations to Progressive Maryland for its health care cohort's years-long organizing efforts to get Senator Chris Van Hollen to cosponsor Medicare for All! Senator Van Hollen announced his cosponsorship at Progressive Maryland’s 25th Anniversary Gala! 

Republicans remain in disarray over health care funding. House Republicans facing tough midterm re-elections (often referred to as “frontline” members) are pushing for a bipartisan deal to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies with some additional restrictions. The White House was going to announce support for such a deal before the holiday break but pulled the plan after pushback from right-wing members. Some frontline members are open to signing a discharge petition on such a plan to force a vote in the House if all Democrats sign on to it, but they are waiting to see if the Senate can come to a bipartisan agreement. 13 House members sent a letter to Speaker Johnson during the shutdown expressing concerns about the harms of letting the subsidies expire. 

One deadline to extend next year's subsidies is the end of the year to lower health care costs for next year though the health care marketplaces are already open now at the higher prices so people are deciding now whether to pay more or forgo health insurance for next year. Some Republicans are talking about pushing the deadline to January 30th, the new government funding deadline, in order to pass a subsidy extension in with funding bills. Republicans are reportedly waiting on Trump to signal what he wants as they’ll need his sign-on to get the majority of House Republicans who don’t believe in spending money on health care in-line. 

Senator Sanders sent a letter to Senate Democrats proposing support for six policies to address health care immediately as we build towards Medicare for All in the long term. [The M4A bill has been filed for next session, and Jacobin reports “The demand for Medicare for All went from the center of the discourse to political exile in record time. But the policy's popularity never faded. A new poll finds strong majority support for the neglected idea among Americans across the political spectrum.”]

Appropriators are moving forward with the appropriations bills so they may have a deal with Democrats before January 30th and avoid another shutdown showdown. More on that soon. 

Trump has been illegally assassinating people on boats in the Caribbean -- allegedly from Venezuela and allegedly trafficking drugs. The Washington Post reported new information over the weekend about the first strike on a boat in the Caribbean, writing that Secretary of Defense (or of War as Trump calls him) Pete Hegseth had ordered that everyone on the boat be killed. After the first strike on the boat, there were two men clinging to the burning boat, so the Special Operations commander ordered a second bomb to kill them. This is likely a war crime. President Trump is denying it is true. 

In solidarity,

Megan