Welcome to the Weekly Memo for Feb. 27-March 4. Lots of hearings in Annapolis this week and more next week; the crunch time is approaching as the legislature hits the halfway point on the way to sine die. Plus local organizing opportunities and links to the past week's blog posts. One-stop shopping for progressives.

WELCOME to the Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Feb. 27-March 4

Hearings on priority bills this week, plus a still-forming phone bank this Saturday to push back against the danger to health care coverage. Next week: Fight for $Fifteen hearing Tuesday, March 7 – sign up to attend below.

Tuesday, February 28, 1 p.m.  House hearings on the Trust Act (HB1362). Progressive Maryland will testify on this bill. Progressive Cheverly will be lobbying for this bill to protect Marylanders against federal-level attacks against immigrants. Contact Rose Bednar  ([email protected] or 202-215-7628) or Barbara Beyna ([email protected] or 301-772-7736)  if you plan to attend or wish to testify.

Wednesday, March 1, 12 noon news conference on the 1 p.m. Senate Finance Committee hearing on SB571, Maryland Health Insurance Coverage Protection Act, held in the Anne Arundel County Delegation Room, room 142 of the Lowe House Office Building in Annapolis, to announce a hearing that day at 1pm before the Senate Finance Committee on SB 571, the.  SB 571 would create a new Commission to monitor what Congress may do to undermine the health care coverage for Marylanders and report back to the Maryland General Assembly with suggestions on how to protect Marylanders.   House Bill 909 is the companion bill, with a hearing on March 10. At the press conference, Progressive Maryland and its national partner, Health Care for America (HCAN) will release its report, “A Cost Too High,” that documents how a repeal of the Affordable Care Act will hurt Marylanders.

Wednesday, March 1, 1 p.m. Senate Hearing on Bail Reform legislation, SB880. A Progressive Maryland priority; PM will be testifying on this bill.

Thursday, March 2 – 7 p.m. Progressive Cheverly presents “Women's Rights: Past, Present, Future.”  Dr. Sonya Michel, recently retired history professor at the University of Maryland will talk about the work of the Feminist Scholars Policy Forum and its advocacy of paid maternity/paternity leave, child care, equal pay, health care access and other issues. She will also talk about the national women's history museum project, which is now in its planning stages. Hoyer Education Center (cafeteria) 2300 Belleview Ave., Cheverly (Parking Available)

Saturday, March 4 – join your neighbors and allies in Progressive Maryland phone-banking action to protect health care in Maryland as the feds try to cut it back. Check this website for details and updates.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR NEXT Tuesday, March 7, at 1 p.m. room 230 in the House Office Building in Annapolis. Hearing on State Fight For $15 Bill. If passed, this will be a huge victory for working families in our state where there is not a single county in which working families can be self-sufficient on less than $15. The legislation as introduced would: Raise wages to $15/hr by 2022 for most workers; Index the minimum wage to inflation to prevent loss in buying power; and eliminate the subminimum wage and unfair pay practices for tipped workers. Help us pack the hearing room in solidarity with working families across Maryland and demand fair wages for all. RSVP  to attend.

Reading the Progressive Maryland BlogSpace: our blogs for the previous week are shown below, but if you want a handy way to keep track – and never miss a blog post – you can sign up to get this Weekly Memo by email. Remember this is your blogspace and your participation is heartily invited. See something going on that you don’t like – or that you do like and hope to see more of? Send us your thoughts; submit to the moderator at [email protected].

We recently published these:

February 24, 2017   Progressive Maryland Leads as Marylanders Launch Effort Calling for Hogan Town Hall

After a bold action at this Wednesday's Board of Public Works meeting, Marylanders continue to insist that Gov. Larry Hogan address the threats to the state from his GOP colleague Donald Trump -- an issue on which Hogan has been conspicuously silent so far. Here is Progressive Maryland's news release:

February 23, 2017   Big Business balks at proposed change to make filing fees progressive

A House bill that would put the state’s annual corporate filing fee on a sliding scale would hit mega-businesses harder than small businesses. Gee, that sounds fair...

February 21, 2017   MoCo parents, officials eye new fed education policy nervously

"Anxiety over the harm that Donald Trump and his public school scorning Education Secretary Betsy DeVos might do to Montgomery County’s vaunted education system was palpable" at a recent public meeting on MCPS's future, Hal Ginsberg reports.

February 20, 2017   Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Feb. 20-26

Connect with your Governor: take a look at our letter (you can add your signature) demanding that the Governor stop pretending his fellow Republican, Pres. Donald Trump, isn't demolishing democratic governance with every tweet. Plus events for the week and our most recent blog posts.

Keeping up with the blogs is easier with the index. The blogs published in the PM BlogSpace since June 2015 are all available with descriptions and links here.