The Trump administration is threatening everyone, state by state, from threats to the Chesapeake Bay from EPA to (successfully) bullying GOP state legislators on redistricting to wrecking the economy while trying to wiggle his way out of his disastrous war of choice in the Persian Gulf. The last time the Persian Empire definitely, inequivocally lost a war was against Alexander the Great. Trump ain't him.

Here in Maryland, a significant but way overdue event -- laying the last tracks for the Purple Line -- took place last week. It's the state's biggest mass-transit effort at this point (Baltimore Red Line, please phone your office). 

Those who worry about gun violence in the state -- and they should -- can be sombrely comforted that the biggest danger to gun owners is to themselves and their families. Opioid deaths, however, are down sharply. And, as the summer approaches, the state Parks system hopes a new reservation process will make it easier to enjoy the many still-wild parts of Maryland.

And BTW, if you are trying to pick a baby name, it doesn't have to be Olivia or Liam (top choices for seven years, wha?). The AP has a chart of runners-up to help out. It's News You Can Use.

HERE IN MARYLAND

Summaries from Maryland Reporter

Gun-Related Suicides Surpass Gun Homicides In 2025: Preliminary data from the Maryland Department of Health shows that suicides involving firearms in Maryland overtook gun homicides in 2025. Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.

Final Tracks Of Purple Line Laid; Opening Set For Late 2027: Gov. Wes Moore (D) was in elementary school when the state’s Purple Line — the 16-mile light rail that will connect parts of Montgomery and Prince George’s counties — was conceived in the late ’80s. On Thursday, he and a pack of local and state officials laid the final tracks on the line, tapping the purple rail spikes in with purple hammers. It will open to the public, officials said, in late 2027 due to testing and safety requirements. WaPo

Business Growth May Not Be as Bright as Moore States, According to Trump Labor Dept Metrics: Gov. Wes Moore has repeatedly highlighted Maryland’s business growth, saying last week that the state has added more than 55,000 new businesses and attracted 85 foreign companies since he took office. But federal labor data shows that claim relies on a metric that does not account for business closures, job losses or whether those companies are still operating — factors economists said are important in evaluating the state’s economic health. Baltimore Sun.

Opioid Deaths Decrease 57% Since COVID: Opioid-related overdose deaths in Maryland have decreased by 57% since an increase during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Capital News Service data analysis. Maryland had over 2,500 opioid-related-overdose deaths in 2020, according to the data. The state’s total for last year was just over 1,000. Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.

Supremes Could Imperil Marylanders' Access To Abortion Meds: Every month, an estimated 500-plus Marylanders receive abortion medication that was mailed to them after a telehealth medical visit, a convenient method for terminating unwanted pregnancies that has been growing since 2022. But abortion advocates say a Supreme Court case reviewing mail access for mifepristone, part of a two-drug regimen used for both medication abortions and miscarriage care, could threaten the ability of Marylanders to get abortion medication by mail. Maryland Matters.

Taxpayers Told To Expect Delays In State Refunds: Taxpayers are being told to expect delays getting their money back, with the Comptroller of Maryland warning on the agency’s website that paper returns could take up to 30 days due to budget constraints and staff reductions — a slowdown economists say could strain cash flow for small businesses. Baltimore Sun

State Parks To Expand Online Reservation System: Beginning as soon as this summer, Maryland officials plan to expand the online reservation system that debuted last year at some of the state’s most popular parks, when the state began requiring park users to register in advance to visit five state parks. State park officials say the registration requirement brought a dramatic improvement to long lines, turning away visitors and early park closures. Maryland Matters.

MD’s Oldest HBCU Will Cut 79 Positions To Close $18 Million Deficit: Facing an $18 million budget deficit for next fiscal year, Bowie State University, Maryland’s oldest historically Black university, said it will cut 79 positions from its workforce. Maryland Matters.

THE REGION AND THE OTHER 49

Chesapeake Bay Foundation, others challenge EPA climate rollback

The Trump administration’s effort to undo the key government rationale for combating climate change and air pollution is being challenged by a coalition of environment groups from around the nation, including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The “endangerment finding” was a scientific determination made by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2009 that greenhouse gas pollution harms public health and welfare. It serves as the legal underpinning for federal climate action, including the regulation of emissions from vehicles and power plants. In February, the EPA announced it was eliminating the finding, as well as greenhouse gas emission standards for vehicles. Bay Journal

WATER: California, Arizona and Nevada have announced a plan to save up to 1 million acre-feet of Colorado River Water through 2028, on top of previous cuts aimed at saving enough water to serve 25 million people. The plan needs approval from federal officials and state lawmakers. Four months have passed since any substantive talks between the Lower Basin states and Upper Basin states of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico. (Associated Press) via Pluribus

News from Daybreak (News from the States)

Montana: For the third time in a row, a conservative group along with a Republican legislator have had their challenge to the state’s abortion protection law, now enshrined in the state constitution, shot down by a court. 

Colorado: The Legislature gave final approval to a bill that would allow residents who are survivors of “conversion therapy” to take legal action at any time against licensed providers who conducted the practice. 

Mississippi: Mississippi has rejoined a nationwide survey that has long been considered the gold standard for understanding women’s experiences before, during and after pregnancy. A disruption of federal services caused the state to pause its own effort to collect information on women’s health for most of 2025. 

Oregon: A recent federal appeals court ruling that blocked the enforcement of a California law requiring federal agents to display identification has cast doubt on the future of a similar Oregon law that also prohibits law enforcement operating in the state from wearing masks.

Minnesota attorney general is eager to put case against Big Oil in front of a jury

The Trump administration’s latest lawsuit against Minnesota aims to short-circuit a six-year effort by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office to hold two fossil-fuel companies and the industry’s top U.S. trade association accountable for what Ellison calls “a campaign of deception” targeting his constituents. The two-term Democrat told the Reformer he won’t be cowed. “This case has been pending for six years because the industry has been throwing everything but the kitchen sink at us,” he said. News from the States

GLOBAL, NATIONAL AND THE FEDS

What’s in a name? Olivia and Liam are the most popular baby names, again. The Social Security Administration said the two names topped the list of those given to babies born in 2025 for the seventh year in a row. Charlotte, Emma and Amelia are among the top baby names for girls, while Noah, Oliver and Theodore are near the top for boys. (Associated Press)

Semafor Reports: The Trump administration is tempering expectations ahead of the president’s trip to China this week. US officials told reporters on Sunday that artificial intelligence, boards of trade and investment, and the Iran war are likely to be discussed — but it’s unclear how many major formal agreements will come from President Donald Trump’s sit-down with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. One senior US official acknowledged that “there’s not a proposal out there for some massive investment” from China to the US. Asked whether the so-called “Board of Trade” would be unveiled formally, the official noted that any such announcement “requires” both countries “to go home and do stuff.” And the official offered no commitments on AI, saying only that the visit will provide an opportunity “to open up a conversation” and see whether “a channel of communication” should be established. And POLITICO’s Monday Playbook noted “Chinese leader Xi Jinping may seek to get President Trump to move the US from a position of ambiguity on Taiwan to full-throated opposition to Taiwanese independence, with one Asian diplomat saying: ‘Let’s pray nothing disastrous happens.’ ”

Here's the weekly report on Washington misdeeds by Megan E, federal affairs director for Progressive Maryland's national affiliate, People's Action...

Hello People's Action,

I hope all the mama's had a nice Mother's Day weekend!

Since the Supreme Court gutted the voting rights act, the situation for redistricting has gone from bad to worse. The Supreme Court ruled that states can not draw districts to take into account minority representation but they can gerrymander based on political party (which in the South, excluding Democrats from representation means diluting the Black vote and getting rid of seats held by African Americans. The ruling caused a mad dash to redistrict through much of the South. 

Last week, Trump spent millions successfully to defeat Indiana Republican state legislative representatives who blocked redistricting in primaries. Hoosier Action executive director Kate Hess Pace says that the results have overblown Trump’s support in Indiana with only 5-6% of Hoosiers voting for the Trump-backed candidates in this election.  “What appears to be Republican dominance is better understood as a function of: low participation, limited alternatives, and significant outside influence. Indiana remains deeply under-organized.” 

Still, Trump’s ability to control Republican elected officials through primaries does continue to mean that he has a tight grip on the party. Other Republican states' legislative representatives are not likely to get in the way of redistricting. 

Democrats are now struggling to keep up. Virginia had redrawn maps to gain up to 4 seats for Democrats that was approved by voters in a special election. Friday, the Supreme Court of Virginia nullified the results saying that the government failed to follow the correct procedures. Maryland State Senator Bill Ferguson has almost single-handedly blocked redistricting in Maryland to gain one Congressional seat in Maryland. 

Republicans are definitely ahead and hopeful that disenfranchising Black people can save their majority. NPR has a map tracking the states. Politico Magazine has an optimistic take that all of this redistricting could backfire. When Republicans redistrict to eliminate Democratic-majority districts, Republican-majority districts become more competitive. If Democrats have a wave election in November (that’s a big if; they are still unpopular -- see below), then some safe-Republican seats become competitive. 

In good news, Trump keeps hitting records for his disapproval ratings -- now at 62%. People disapprove of his costly and unnecessary war with Iran by 66% - at Vietnam & Iraq war levels. A mere 23% think he’s doing a good job on the cost of living crisis. Trump’s approval among independent voters has dropped 18 points over the past year. In this context, Trump’s request for $1 billion for his ballroom is not going over well with Congressional Republicans or the American people. I guess he’s gone over budget even for the billionaires funding his ballroom. 

This Daily podcast from the NY Times on the rise in political violence in America is worth a listen. The professor, Robert Pape, attributes the transfer of wealth from the bottom 90 percent of Americans to the top 1 percent since the 1980s as contributing to the rise in political violence. People in the bottom 90 percent are feeling powerless to address it through democratic participatory means. 

“And so what that means is as political power is changing with the changing demographics, both the Republican side and the Democratic side, because they’re the bottom 90 percent, they really see their economic prospects could be clobbered even more. And part of the big reason for this is nobody’s solving the shift of wealth to the top 1 percent. Neither party has taken that on. And that is an additional fuel to the bipartisan nature of the rise of political violence.”

He notes that people in the 91st to 99th percent haven’t experienced much change (This is the Democratic Party establishment and their donors who touted a strong economy under Biden). “But if you’re in the top 1 percent, you are gaining enormous wealth from the country. And it’s coming out of the entire bottom 90 percent, pretty much evenly at the different quintiles.”

In other good news, people are looking for alternatives to the Democratic Party establishment. 

Mike Lux’s substack last week, “What Maine — and every other thing happening in politics right now —teaches us: The DC establishment really doesn’t get it” notes that it’s not just Graham Platner in Maine; most Senate candidates that Schumer/Democratic leadership is backing (formally or informally) appear to be behind in the polls. Peggy Flanagan appears well ahead of crypto-backed Angie Craig in MN and Elissa Slotkin may be behind both the more progressive candidates, Abdul El-Said and Mallory McMorrow (though this three-way race is particularly close and the progressive vote may be split). Schumer-backed Collin Allred dropped out of the TX primary before election day. The Democratic party is almost as unpopular as Trump." 

Punchbowl News is reporting that Senator Warren moved $400,000 to state parties and has been campaigning for some progressive candidates, suggesting that she may be vying for future Senate leadership.

In solidarity,

Megan