Maryland, like many other Blue states, is feeling increasingly embattled as Trump continues his EO-fueled assault on peoples' everyday liberties and rights to free speech. Most of the Mad King's Executive Orders, being of dubious legality, are in court somewhere and may even get turned down by the conservative-ridden Supreme Court if they suddenly find their mislaid copies of the US Constitution. Maryland is currently escaping occupation along the lines of D.C., but facing a worst-case scenario from any shutdown because more attrition of federal workers appears nearly guaranteed even without such a disruption. But in the meantime, many Blue cities ARE putting up with uniformed military presence, where "is THIS what you signed up for?" should be the welcome on everyone's lips. The troops look forbidding in their riot gear but they are us, and we shouldn't let the fear Trump is hoping for allow us to forget that. Note that Oregon is pushing back.
Trump will be talking shutdown (or not) with Congressional bigwigs today and (more ominously) with a captive audience of high-ranking military tomorrow, as Megan E details in our Global/National/Feds section below. It's all News You Can Use
HERE IN MARYLAND
Summaries from Maryland Reporter
Abrego Garcia Moved To Pennsylvania Detention Center: Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been transferred to a detention center in Central Pennsylvania while he awaits immigration proceedings, according to federal court documents filed by his attorneys. Baltimore Sun. >>Abrego Garcia’s lawyers expressed concerns in a letter to the court about their client’s transfer on Friday morning from the Farmville Detention Center in Virginia to a detention center in Philipsburg, Pa., according to court records, citing its greater inaccessibility for his legal counsel. Baltimore Banner.
State Panel Lowers Current Revenue Estimates, Issues Weak Outlook For Coming Fiscal Year: A key fiscal panel revised its revenue estimates downward slightly for the current fiscal year, saying Thursday that it expects revenues to be less than one-tenth of a percent lower than the March forecast. Maryland Matters.
BUT Latest Budget Update Isn’t Terrible: For the first time in a couple years, an update about the state’s financial footing wasn’t dire. The state is slightly behind expectations for the current budget year but can expect revenues to grow slightly for next year, according to the latest round of financial forecasting. Baltimore Banner.
BARC Partisans Gird for Battle A recent deep dive, with great photos, on the endangered Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), which the US Department of Agriculture says it will shut down. Many are fighting back. Baltimore Banner (may be paywalled)
Definition Of Reckless, Negligent, And Aggressive Driving Is Expanding: What defines reckless, negligent and aggressive driving in Maryland is expanding next week — as are the penalties for each. WYPR
.A $92m Cleanup? Plaintiffs In Perdue Lawsuit Call For Changes At Salisbury Plant: On Thursday, a report commissioned by the legal team suing Perdue AgriBusiness called for at least $92.8 million in interim cleanup steps to address alleged contamination at the Salisbury facility. Baltimore Sun.
Maryland Could Lose Another 10,000 Jobs By Year's End: If federal job losses continue at their current rate, Maryland could lose another 10,000 federal positions by the end of the year, a top official in the state’s Office of the Comptroller said this week. WaPo
Maryland's Redrawn 'Environmental Justice' Map Omits Race Data: A state map showing “environmental justice” communities is back online, after the state lost access to federal data about communities considered overburdened by pollution and underserved by government services in a Trump administration purge. But the Maryland Department of the Environment removed race, ethnicity and language data from the calculus that determines an area’s environmental justice score on the updated map, leaving some environmental advocates scratching their heads. Maryland Matters.
New Division Of AGs Office Recommends Few Police Prosecutions: Four years after its establishment, the Independent Investigations Division under the Maryland Attorney General’s Office has recommended relatively few prosecutions against police officers, raising questions from one lawmaker about its relevance. Baltimore Sun.
Medicaid Recipients Sue A group of Medicaid recipients has sued the Maryland Department of Health for a “dysfunctional” system of determining eligibility for services that they say has denied services to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The failure of the department’s annual “redetermination” process has already caused a number of recipients to lose coverage, the suit says. Staff/Maryland Matters
Studying Invasive Catfish in Potomac to Aid Bay Conservation: Suddenly, they rise to the surface one by one, writhing briefly before they lie still — dozens of invasive blue and flathead catfish, previously hidden in the gray-blue depths beneath the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, connecting Maryland’s Oxon Hill to Virginia’s Alexandria. The fish, with their white bellies and small fins pointed skyward, aren’t dead — just stunned. This experiment in electrofishing helps give scientists a snapshot of what is normally concealed. Maryland Matters.
Latino Caucus Asks Moore Admin To Jettison Deportation Flights From BWI: The Moore administration is facing increasing pressure from activists and the head of the Legislative Latino Caucus to boot a discount airline from Thurgood Marshall Baltimore Washington International Airport because it has been flying immigrants targeted for deportation to a detention facility in Louisiana. Maryland Matters.
THE OTHER 49
School systems are remaking the old yellow bus into a high-tech machine: Live cameras, GPS tracking and navigation have reshaped the school bus experience for students and drivers. Most stay yellow, though – a safety signal to other drivers that schools won’t give up. Stateline Daily
MARRIAGE BAN: Ohio Rep. Thad Claggett (R) has introduced legislation declaring AI systems are “consentient” entities, banning them from gaining personhood [or incorporating?] and making it illegal for someone to marry an AI system (!!!). The bill would also ban AI systems from owning or controlling real estate, intellectual property and financial accounts. (Columbus Dispatch) via Pluribus
A majority of US children rely on Medicaid or CHIP, new study finds: By age 18, about 3 in 4 children have used government health assistance. Stateline Daily
FEDERALISM: Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield (D) has filed suit against the Trump administration to block the deployment of National Guard troops to Portland. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memo to Gov. Tina Kotek (D) calling up 200 Guard troops for a 60-day deployment. In a press conference, Rayfield and Kotek called the order an infringement on state sovereignty. (Oregonian) via Pluribus
New report ranks states on climate-related health risks, clean energy policies: Health care systems nationwide are vulnerable to extreme weather and climate threats. Stateline Daily
TRANSPORTATION: CARS FIRST, PLEASE…The Department of Transportation has sent notices to at least six states — Alabama, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Mexico — informing them it is withdrawing money under the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law meant to fund recreational trails and bike lanes. The department said those projects fail to promote road capacity or are “hostile to motor vehicles.” (Associated Press) via Pluribus
Better close that EV deal before the Shutdown: 146,332 electric vehicles were sold in the United States in August, up 18% from the month before. Industry analysts expect sales to plummet in the last quarter of the year after a $7,500 federal tax credit expires. (New York Times)
GLOBAL, NATIONAL AND THE FEDS
Some types of crime remain under-reported: A report by the Pew Research Center published last year found that U.S. residents reported fewer than half of household burglaries and incidents of trespassing — 45% and 42%, respectively. Meanwhile, instances of personal theft, larceny and other types of pilfering were reported about 25% of the time. Regarding violent crimes, robberies were reported at the highest rate (64%). That category was followed by aggravated assault, at 50%, simple assault, 37%, and rape/sexual assault, at 21%. Baltimore Sun.
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Here’s the DC update -- yep, shutdown looms—from People’s Action’s Megan E, federal affairs director:
We should take a moment to celebrate last week’s victory of forcing Jimmy Kimmel to be reinstated! And protestors outside of conservative broadcasting conglomerate Sinclair-owned TV stations, Sinclair also caved and put Kimmel back on the air.
In an effort to continue the chief executive’s use of political violence to silence his opponents, on Saturday, Trump “directed the Pentagon to send troops to ‘protect’ Portland, Oregon, adding that he was authorizing ‘full force, if necessary.’”
From Time.com: “‘At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists,’ Trump wrote [capitalization in original] in a post on Truth Social on Saturday morning.”
There have been ongoing peaceful protests at an ICE facility in Portland and absolutely no emergency. This action follows Trump’s escalation of threats on left-leaning organizations in an effort to silence his opposition. He declared Antifa a “domestic terror organization” in an Executive Order signed last week. Antifa is not an organization but rather a movement or collective of individuals. Like many of his Executive Orders, it is being used to tell a story of a left-wing villain to justify further power grabs and mobilization of troops in blue cities
All people in the U.S. are still protected by the U.S. Constitution's free speech and due process protections though the right wing controlled Supreme Court is issuing decision after decision that gives Trump more power as his administration takes every chance to push the limits of its power.
After cutting SNAP food assistance for hungry families, the Trump administration is ending the national food insecurity report so it can hide increased food insecurity under its administration.
Trump is scheduled to meet with Congressional leadership today at 3pm ET about the looming government shutdown. I’ve included Friday’s update on the shutdown with the latest below my signature. Here is a toolkit. Maine People’s Alliance and Faith In Minnesota pulled together a call last Thursday of state-based groups across networks. They brainstormed a list of ideas here.
WHAT'S HAPPENING: NEW RESOURCES
Today, 4pm ET Briefing on Presidential Memo on Nonprofits President Trump issued a presidential memorandum authorizing government-wide investigations into non-profits, activists, and their donors and funders. Please join the ACLU, Americans Against Government Censorship, Center for American Progress, Democracy Defenders Fund, Democracy Forward, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Council of Nonprofits, and Public Citizen at 4pm ET on Monday, September 29 for a briefing on the memorandum. Register for the briefing here.
Two new Know Your Rights (KYR) Resources from the National Immigration Law Center (NILC)
- Know Your Rights: CBP Home (English and Spanish; multi-lingual translations forthcoming)
- Green Card Holders: Know Your Rights & Risks During the Second Trump Administration (available in 8 languages)
NILC now has 3 plain language fact sheets on our website, translated into Arabic, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Korean, Tagalog, and Spanish.
- New Funding Increases Immigration Enforcement - Explains how new federal money for enforcement will be spent
- New Law Changes Taxes for Immigrants - Explains changes in the tax code impacting immigrants
- New Law Limits Health Care & Food Aid for Immigrants - Explains immigrants' public benefit eligibility changes
The Trump Administration’s Attack on Environmental Protections Will Increase Cancer-Causing Pollution. The top 10 states with the most polluting facilities that are exempted from toxic air pollution limits and/or are expected to produce more as environmental protections are stripped away are Texas, Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, Virginia, Ohio, and Oklahoma.
2024 Poverty Rates in Historical Perspective
Share Our Strength/No Kid Hungry Campaign’s recent report about the importance of school meals