Resistance on the ground to excessive and terroristic behavior by ICE troopers trying to meet their quotas in Los Angeles has hit a peak even as much of the city is quiet, the Mayor says. Trump is enjoying the perceived opening to send the military against US citizens. It's like a prologue to the planned military-style victory parade for DJT's birthday this Saturday, bringing lots of signs of additional resistance locally. Here in Maryland, new methods of (hopefully harmless) penny-pinching could ease the strain on the state's coffers even as the bond rating has diminished (cut by only one of the three rating agencies). So life here stays interesting but the Trump rampages are directed elsewhere. For now.

HERE IN MARYLAND

Summaries from Maryland Reporter

Abrego Garcia Back In U.S.; Facing Federal Charges: Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man wrongly deported to his native El Salvador three months ago, was brought back to the U.S. on Friday and will face federal charges, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said. Maryland Matters.

>Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. marks a surprising turnaround in the mistakenly deported Maryland man’s legal saga after months of litigation seeking to bring him back. Since sending Abrego Garcia to a Salvadoran mega-prison in March, the Trump administration has defied a judge’s orders to return him to the U.S. or communicate their efforts to do so. Baltimore Sun.

>Federal Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville, Tenn., determined that Abrego Garcia will be held in custody until at least next Friday, when there will be an arraignment and detention hearing.  Associated Press.

State Could Save $326m In Office Moves, Tech Changes: In the midst of a budget crisis, Gov. Wes Moore’s administration in January went searching for modest savings in unusual places. Barely used phone lines could be disconnected. The state could cut back on buying new cars and service its existing vehicle fleet less often. Nine state-owned buildings could be abandoned in favor of commercial leases. On Friday, the results were in: Those belt-tightening measures will result in $50 million of savings each year for the next five years, and $326 million more over the next two decades. WaPo

>The largest portion of the savings — about $30 million — for the fiscal year that starts July 1 will come from changes in state technology. Officials said underutilized mobile and land phone lines will be eliminated. The state will also standardize laptop purchases and keep equipment longer before buying replacements. Maryland Matters.

Drop In Bond Rating Could Cost Maryland; We'll Find Out Soon: State officials — and Maryland taxpayers — will learn in a few days just how much a ding on the state’s prized credit rating will cost, if anything. Maryland officials plan to offer roughly $1.7 billion in bonds for sale Wednesday, the first since the state lost its treasured triple AAA bond rating last month, when Moody’s downgraded the state to Aa-1. Maryland Matters.

Maryland Seeks To Expand Internet Access On Eastern Shore: Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day has announced $1.27 million in fiscal 2025 funds to help more Marylanders on the Eastern Shore access high-speed, affordable internet, part of a broader $13,609,394 in broadband expansion funding throughout the state. Salisbury Daily Times.

Despite Efforts By Lawmakers, Energy Bills Are Going Up Again. Here’s Why: Discussions about rising energy costs may have dominated this past Maryland General Assembly session. But even higher bills are on the way. Beginning June 1, elevated rates took effect for utilities across Maryland, from Baltimore Gas & Electric to Delmarva Power and Pepco. The reasons go back to economics class: low supply and high demand. But who is to blame depends on who you ask. Maryland Matters.

New Loan Program For Laid-Off Federal Workers: Marylanders affected by federal layoffs this year can now apply for an interest-free state loan to help them pay the bills in the short term, according a press release Thursday from the state Department of Labor. Maryland Matters.

State's LGBTQ+ Protections Likely To Be Tested Under Trump: For more than a decade, Maryland state lawmakers passed laws to protect and uplift Maryland’s LGBTQ+ community – from marriage equality for same-sex couples to boosting health care access for transgender individuals. The second Trump administration is likely to put those protections to the test. Maryland Matters.

Online Mental Health Services Aid Struggling Prince George's Youth: Adolescents across the country have increasingly suffered from anxiety and depression over the last 10 years, and school officials in Prince George’s County noticed the same trend locally. So when the county’s public school system needed to support its struggling students, it did what schools and young people across the nation are doing — it turned to an online service.  Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.

The Chesapeake Bay Balancing Act – better (less) use of nitrogen reduces farm pollution, but “perhaps the biggest challenge is farm economics, which drive greater production — and more nitrogen use — as farmers try to stay in business. The ability to reverse the recent trend [of increased nitrogen use]  is critical to whether the state-federal Bay Program partnership ever reaches its Chesapeake cleanup goals because states are counting on the vast majority of future nutrient reductions to come from the 80,000 farms that cover a quarter of the Bay watershed. The Bay Program’s latest cleanup deadline for nutrient pollution will be missed this year, and the partnership is under pressure to set a new time frame.” Bay Journal

Rural Maryland Medicaid recipients risk coverage, provider shortage under Trump bill: Many Marylanders are reeling as the U.S. Senate prepares to debate President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” the signature legislation that cements the agenda in his second term. The bill proposes more than $720 billion in cuts to Medicaid spending nationwide. If approved by Congress and signed into law by Trump, it could severely impact over 1.5 million Marylanders who rely on the program, including more than 400,000 living in rural communities. Baltimore Sun

THE OTHER 49

Raise Taxes on Rich to Fund Education, Michigan Advocates Propose

A group of Michigan educational and labor organizations launched a ballot initiative to let Michigan voters decide if they want to place higher taxes on wealthy Michiganders to fund public K-12 schools this week and business groups are questioning how beneficial the change would be for the state. Michigan’s 4.25% income tax rate has billionaires and teachers paying the same rate, the advocates point out. Stateline Daily

ENERGY: The Oregon legislature approved a bill to allow the state Public Utility Commission to charge data centers and crypto mining operations more for electricity consumption, to avoid passing costs onto consumers. The measure exempts semiconductor manufacturers. (Oregon Capital Chronicle) (Pluribus)

CA: California attorney general sues Catholic hospital over noncompliance with emergency abortion care law | ABC 7 KRCR /Stateline

WV: A West Virginia prosecutor warns women that miscarriage could lead to criminal charges | CNN /Stateline

US: At least 200 Planned Parenthood clinics that provide basic health care are at risk of closing | NBC News /Stateline

 Trump wants to eliminate a 105-year-old office that supports women workers | Mother Jones/Stateline

Safe return: Can’t pass this one up: Ed the Zebra, on the loose for more than a week in Tennessee, has been safely captured in Rutherford County. Sheriff’s deputies said Ed was airlifted to a waiting animal trainer, and the photos are worth the click. (Associated Press) via Pluribus

Or Not to Pursue: The New Zoo & Adventure Park in Green Bay has called off the search for an otter that escaped during a March snowstorm. Louie the otter was born in the wild, and zoo officials said he had “made the decision to be a wild otter.” (UPI) (Pluribus)

GLOBAL, NATIONAL AND THE FEDS

Trump Tariffs Would Lower Deficit but Slow U.S. Economic Growth, Nonpartisan CBO Finds: WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's tariffs would decrease the deficit over the next decade but overall shrink the U.S. economy and raise costs for consumers, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis released last week. Tariffs are paid to the U.S. government by domestic companies and purchasers who buy goods from abroad. The nonpartisan CBO found that tariffs would reduce the nation’s primary deficit by $2.5 trillion from now until 2035, plus an additional $500 million saved from avoiding even more mounting interest payments on the U.S. debt. But the office also found that tariffs would slow down the U.S. economy over the same time, in part by affecting behavior in the private sector. States Newsroom

Cal Study Shows: Gentrification coming for the bus: As neighborhoods gentrify, transit ridership — particularly buses — drops, according to a new study from Los Angeles. The study found that each $230/month rent increase correlated with a 22% fall in ridership, as wealthy residents choose cars or rideshare, imperiling the entire system in the process. One solution: make it cheaper to build more affordable housing. A wrap by 730DC

 If Trump cuts funding to NPR and PBS, rural America will pay a devastating price: Much of the country has little access to local news, with public media filling the void – and serving as a lifeline. The Guardian (UK)

How school choice policies evolved from supporting Black students to subsidizing middle-class families: Research from education history scholars shows that more recent support for school choice was not anchored in an agenda to privatize public schools but rooted in a mission to support Black students. Over time, as school voucher policies grew in popularity, they evolved into subsidies for middle-class families to send their children to private and parochial schools. The Conversation

>>>>>>>>>>>>The weekly catch-up from Megan E at People’s Action

People have been protesting ICE and Trump’s immigration policies in Los Angeles  for three days. Pro-immigrant, anti-ICE protests broke out in LA on Friday after several ICE raids around the city. ICE arrested David Huerta, president of SEIU-USWW and SEIU California, for protesting at one location. “Huerta was briefly hospitalized after suffering an injury and was placed in custody. He is expected to be arraigned in federal court on Monday.” 

From the Guardian: “Fueling the fury was the brutality with which federal agents had approached their targets, including a clothing manufacturer in Los Angeles’s garment district, and Home Depot in the Westlake district and a warehouse in South Los Angeles. The arrests were carried out without judicial warrants, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – advocates say that more than 200 people were taken. Lawyers reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been holding detained families in the basements of federal immigration facilities, separating children and mothers from their fathers. Agents have refused access to attorneys and family members, according to the Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef).”

Despite Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Newsom’s protests, Trump sent in the National Guard on Saturday to increase tension and create a confrontation that he thinks is good for his base. The national guard has not been deployed to a state against its Governor’s will since 1965 when President Johnson sent the national guard to Selma to protect civil rights marchers to peacefully protest against a hostile state government and police force. Newsom  is fighting back hard challenging Trump’s authority to send the national guard into his state. [The CA attorney general has announced a suit against the Trump regime contesting Trump's right to federalize the state guard].

Kilmar Abrego Garcia who was illegally deported and placed in an El Salvador prison has been returned to the U.S. to face criminal prosecution. It’s a small victory for due process.  

Here’s the statement from People’s Action on the oppression in California. Pressure your electeds to condemn this crackdown: 1-833-312-1711

Congress

Senators are still negotiating the terms of the big ugly budget reconciliation bill and committees are releasing portions of the bill though they don’t plan to hold committee votes and will go straight to the floor. From Politico: “The Senate HELP and Energy committees are expected to release their text on Tuesday; Agriculture on Wednesday; and Homeland Security and Judiciary on Thursday, according to our latest intel. Agriculture text though may slide to later this week or possibly into next week as several governors are now raising concerns about plans for federal food aid.” 

The tax policy, including energy tax credits and SALT deductions and Medicaid cuts will come from the Senate Finance Committee which will release its text next week. The Chair, Senator Crapo (R-ID) is negotiating details and plans to brief Republicans mid-week. Within the committee, “Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) pushing for changes to ‘no tax on tips’ and Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) wanting to scale back planned endowment taxes on private universities.”

And of course there was the entertaining Trump-Musk feud. It's unclear whether Musk will push any more Republicans to oppose deficit spending budget. 

From Politico: “House GOP leaders are planning to vote Thursday on a rescissions bill that would claw back $9.4 billion in funds Congress has approved for foreign aid and public broadcasting. But… at least 10 moderate Republicans have privately said they currently oppose the legislation.”  See above, The Guardian.

In solidarity, 

Megan

Megan E is federal affairs director for People’s Action, which is Progressive Maryland’s national affiliate