Marylanders are getting exercised about the wacky thinking tolerated in the Department of Health and Human Services by its equally wacky agency head, RFK Jr. More to come; an announcement from Trump is expected today on Kennedy's odd obsession with autism and its causes. Meanwhile, Marylanders are also getting exercised about data centers, which have the appearance of boosting employment and revenue but (as seen in Virginia, where they are numerous) also overstrain electric power resources and raise rates for residents. How to manage these companions to the AI revolution (maybe by requiring on-site clean-power facilities) is a concern nationwide.

It's fair to ask how much we in Maryland will notice if the federal government has a shutdown. How much of the federal government is left operating, after the depredations of DOGE and Trump's cabinet-level minions? And since Maryland has already taken the biggest hit from federal employees' willing or unwilling exits, how much more hassle can a shutdown bring? It looks like we are going to find out; Dems are so far holding fast on their demand that Affordable Care Act subsidies get extended and Medicaid work requirements be eased (and the Dems actually proposed an alternative bill, rather than just saying "No"!) If spines stay stiffened, we'll see which states throw in the towel first. Red states generally depend on federal funds more than Blue states. It's News You Can Use, where we don't shut up about the shutdown.

HERE IN MARYLAND

Maryland Groups Join Forces for Upcoming Data Center Decisions: Maryland organizations are coalescing around a common concern: the growing presence of data centers. Six organizations focused largely on land use recently combined their efforts to form a Maryland Data Centers Analysis Group. The focus is to provide information “from verified sources” to local groups looking to learn more about the potential impacts of data centers and possible policy solutions to concerns that arise. Bay Journal

>>Protests Cause Prince George’s Leaders to Hit ‘Pause’ on Data Centers Plans This week, County Executive Aisha Braveboy issued an order halting the permitting process for data centers. And several councilmembers introduced a resolution to halt the permitting process for six months to allow the council’s task force, formed earlier this year, to study the issue and make recommendations. But it’s unclear whether the council can retroactively change the rules and halt the Landover [former Landover Mall data center] project. WAMU news

Maryland Joins Multistate Coalition to Buck Trump Administration Vaccine Policies Officials say the Northeast Public Health Collaborative will make vaccine, other recommendations ‘based on scientific evidence’ -- Maryland has joined a growing coalition of states that are setting their own public health guidelines to counter the Trump administration’s more restrictive vaccine policies, a health department spokesperson said Thursday. As part of the Northeast Public Health Collaborative, Maryland joins a cohort of states that are developing vaccine recommendations and other public health guidelines amid growing skepticism of federal health rules being set under the Trump administration. “This collaborative will make decisions based on scientific evidence and strive to ensure equitable access to quality health care,” the statement said. Maine also just joined the coalition. Other states in the partnership include Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, New York State, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. All except Vermont are led by Democrats. West Coast states have agreed to form a similar coalition. Maryland Matters/Stateline

Summaries from Maryland Reporter: (some links may be paywalled)

Maryland Loses Most Federal Jobs Since January: Maryland lost another 2,500 federal jobs in August, the second month in a row that the state has led the nation in federal job losses, according to numbers released Friday by the Maryland Department of Labor. The August numbers brought the total number of federal jobs lost in the state to 15,100 since January. That year-to-date total is also the most in the country. Maryland Matters.  [Pluribus reports 1.9%: The unemployment rate in South Dakota in August, the lowest rate in the nation. Washington, D.C., had the highest unemployment rate, at 6%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics) ]

Purple Line Five Years Late, $4 Billion Over Budget: When the Purple Line got greenlit more than a decade ago, plans called for the 16-mile, 21-station light rail traversing Montgomery and Prince George’s counties to open in 2022. Then the tumult began: court cases, delays, construction firms walking away, even a global pandemic. The ribbon cutting won’t come until late 2027, at an estimated building cost of $5.6 billion. The total cost of $9.5 billion, including the contract to operate the light rail, is nearly $4 billion more than the original price.  Baltimore Banner.

School Buildings 'Functionally Unreliable,' Comptroller Says: The vast majority of Maryland school facilities are in need of repairs or are “functionally unreliable,” amid skyrocketing construction costs, according to a new report from the state’s comptroller.  Baltimore Sun.

Moore Bets Big On Quantum Computing As Key 'Lighthouse' Industry: From South Carolina to Tokyo, Gov. Wes Moore’s 2025 traveling sales pitch to bring more businesses to Maryland has focused on a few key areas — “lighthouse” industries, as he calls them, that could ignite a new age of economic growth in a state that’s struggled to keep up. The brightest lighthouse — or at least the one Moore has rallied around the most — is also the riskiest: The emerging world of quantum computing. Baltimore Sun.

300,000 Marylanders To Face Large Insurance Rate Hike: Nearly 300,000 Marylanders who bought health insurance on the state’s Affordable Care Act Marketplace will see monthly health care costs jump next year, as state officials finalize premium rate increases for 2026. The Maryland Insurance Administration announced the approval Friday of a 13.4% average premium rate increase for 2026, meaning individuals and households will have to pay hundreds more in health costs over next year. Maryland Matters.

>>The approved rates are 3.7% lower than what insurance companies suggested back in June, when the companies offered 17% hikes, far above the average of 8% a year Marylanders usually see. The insurers claim the increase is due to Congress and the Trump administration getting rid of the federal premium tax credit in the latest spending bill. WYPR-FM.

Feds End Blue Ribbon Program Loved By Maryland Schools: U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications Strategy Madi Biedermann sent a letter to state and private school officials last month announcing the end of the National Blue Ribbon Schools program, which is beloved by the Maryland educators who led schools that joined its ranks. Last year, 356 schools received the honor, doled out to both high-achieving institutions and those closing achievement gaps. Ten Maryland schools made the list: four public and six private.  Baltimore Banner.

Moore Answers USDOT Secy Accusation With Bridge Cost, Schedule: While the U.S. Secretary of Transportation is raising concerns about Maryland’s use of diversity, equity and inclusion programs to select contractors for the Francis Scott Key Bridge replacement, Gov. Wes Moore, in a statement, instead answered his concerns about the “overall cost and schedule for completion” of the bridge. Initial projections from the state said it expects the Key Bridge to reopen in 2028 at a cost of $1.8 billion. Maryland Matters.

Maryland Dems Deride Kimmel Suspension as Censorship: Democrats in the Maryland congressional delegation on Friday warned that ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! following controversial comments on the assassination of Charlie Kirk was a threat to free speech. “It represents the type of censorship that we see in authoritarian regimes,” Rep. Johnny Olszewski said in an interview. Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.

Home Sales Slowing, Maryland Realtors Say: Data out of the Maryland Association of Realtors shows that the state’s housing market overall is slowing, as well, with densely populated areas such as Baltimore City, Montgomery, Howard and Prince George’s counties and others seeing significant decreases in homes sold this year, compared to last.  Baltimore Sun.

Baltimore City Battles Dollar Store Growth: As dollar stores proliferate in Baltimore, much to the dismay of city leaders who have been working to boost specific neighborhoods, they have introduced a bill they hope will help. Bill 25-0040 would mean that “small box” retail establishments proposed for any commercial zone would have to get “conditional use” approval from the Zoning Board, providing some leverage for residents. Baltimore Brew.

THE OTHER 49

Blue States Hold On To Public Health Dollars While Red States Lose Out
After the Trump administration slashed billions in state and local public health funding from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this year, the eventual impact on states split sharply along political lines. Democratic-led states that sued to block the cuts kept much of their funding, while Republican-led states lost the bulk of theirs, according to a new analysis from health research organization KFF. The uneven fallout underscores how politics continues shaping health care in the United States.

Fewer households, businesses will get high-speed internet under revamped federal plan -- Trump has scaled back a Biden-era program that aimed to close the digital divide.

  RI: Trump administration moves to transfer, consolidate Rhode Island's offshore wind lawsuits | Rhode Island Current

  AL: Alabama state library board continues to withhold funding from local library -- The decision was the latest battle in an ongoing fight over books in libraries around the state that conservative groups have claimed are sexually explicit but which opponents say amount to attacks on literature with LGBTQ+ characters or themes.| Alabama Reflector

GLOBAL, NATIONAL AND THE FEDS

Global for Sure: The UN General Assembly is open as of this week, with peace in Gaza as a big concern. POLITICO Playbook reports “ A new Gallup poll out this morning shows that while 60 percent of Americans see the U.N. as necessary in world politics, 63 percent say it’s doing a poor job trying to solve global problems, POLITICO’s Katherine Long reports. According to the survey, most Americans support the U.S. government funding the U.N., “with 35 percent of respondents wanting to maintain current levels and 25 percent wanting to increase funding.” By contrast, 17 percent believe the U.S. should give up its membership, the joint-highest in Gallup’s U.N. analysis “spanning back decades.”

Yeah, but how’s the economy working for YOU? The New York Times reports that “While most food companies are seeing declines in consumer demand for their products, sales of Hamburger Helper are up 14.5 percent in the year through August. And it’s not just Hamburger Helper. Sales of foods commonly purchased by consumers when financial times get tough are on the rise, according to industry analysts. Purchases of rice are up 7.5 percent this year. Distressed shoppers are also buying more cans of tuna, salmon and sardines. Sales of beans and boxes of macaroni and cheese are also strong, based on data from the research firm Circana.”

The weekly update on national politics in D.C. from Megan E, federal affairs director for our national affiliate, People’s Action.

The Charlie Kirk Narrative Bulldozer: The Trump administration and its far-right infrastructure have been using Charlie Kirk’s murder as an opportunity to consolidate its hold over the national narrative, consolidate narrative power and take control over the media. Say what you like about Trump but he has a shrewd grasp of how to build narrative power. Trump and the far right have owned the narrative of Charlie Kirk’s death, which has eclipsed other stories such as the Epstein files and the impending government shutdown. When Steve Bannon was asked by Politico about his disdain for “cancel culture,” in regard to Jimmy Kimmel being taken off the air, he responded, “This is an inflection point. We need to win.”

Kimmel’s censoring has offered the anti-authoritarian coalition an opportunity to exercise our non-compliance muscles. To recap, last week, Disney took Jimmy Kimmel off its subsidiary network ABC in response to threats from Brendan Carr, chair of broadcast regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC),  to take action against ABC and Disney over jokes Kimmel made about MAGA and Trump’s reaction to Charlie Kirk's murder. Hollywood actors and the unions representing workers in entertainment immediately spoke out against Disney and an organic boycott of Disney and subsidiaries began online, with the high numbers of cancellations destabilizing Disney+ website Thursday night.  

National organizations (including People’s Action Institute) have joined calls for a boycott and WGAW  & WGAE - writers guild has held daily pickets at ABC HQ in NY and Walt Disney Company - Burbank. In a small victory, conservative Sinclair media, which owns many ABC news local affiliates, announced it would air Kirk’s memorial during Kimmel’s slot but then moved it to its YouTube channel instead and aired Family Feud – presumably due to pushback from people. There are calls to hold protests at local stations. 

Here is a Boycott DisneyABC website and toolkit. 

Last week, the House and Senate passed resolutions honoring the life and legacy of Charlie Kirk and condemning political violence (of course the condemning violence and his murder part is good, honoring his work not so good). 95 House Democrats supported the resolution, 58 voted no, 38 voted present. House Democratic leadership supported the resolution but did not whip the vote. They told members to vote their conscience. The Senate passed a shorter resolution by unanimous consent. 

The Democrats who voted no and present are available here. It appears that most of Congressional Black Caucus,  the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus voted No or present. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who voted no, said in a statement: “We should be clear about who Charlie Kirk was: a man who believed that the Civil Rights Act that granted Black Americans the right to vote was a ‘mistake,’ who after the violent attack on Paul Pelosi claimed that ‘some amazing patriot out there’ should bail out his assailant, and accused Jews of controlling ‘not just the colleges – it’s the nonprofits, it’s the movies, it’s Hollywood, it’s all of it.”

Big thank you to the folks in our network who participated in the Make Billionaires Pay actions Saturday in NYC and around the country in Charleston, Buffalo, Detroit and Cincinnati, Ohio. Here is an Instagram post from the Detroit action with Michigan United Action, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and others. 

ACTIONS TO TAKE: ASKS: What You Can Do This Week

Govt Funding & the Looming Shutdown: Democratic Congressional leadership has been doing a good job on negotiating the annual funding bills. BUT Congress went home after the funding bill failed in the Senate.  Speaker Johnson is saying he may not reconvene the House until after the shutdown begins. The deadline is September 30. Some organizations are holding actions at Republican district offices calling on them to invest in people and fund health care and housing while they are home in recess this week.

I encourage you or your organizations to join them or host your own actions, target phone calls or petitions. Please reach out to me if you need any support on that. 

Here are some messaging resources on the government funding fight that we’ll continue to update. 

NCLC Survey: If anyone is hearing about lending, banking or financial technology services issues from their base, the National Consumer Law Center would like you to fill out this short survey to help direct their work.

WHAT'S HAPPENING: NEW RESOURCES
People’s Action has a Politico Pro Account and I can pull the contact information and create spreadsheets of state legislative staff (in some cases the legislator’s email) contacts.  Please reach out if you want my help at [email protected].

ISSUE UPDATE: HEALTHCARE

I’ve written before about Dr. Oz's terrible plan to introduce prior authorization in 6 states.  It's explained in this petition Good news! Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) got an amendment added to the House Labor HHS bill that would block this plan from being implemented! It was adopted in a voice vote with some Republican support, including Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), who said he appreciated the amendment.

That means this could be a winnable issue! Even though it may not apply to your state it's an opportunity to block lucrative government contracts going to insurance companies. 

We need to get the Senate to support this language so it's included in the final package in November. Getting the Senate's support should be easier than the House's but insurance companies will be lobbying against us. Targets are both Democrat & Republican Senators (particularly Collins, Murray, Moore Capito & Schumer, Durbin, Murphy). 

Megan