January 4, 2021 -- Yes, 2021, not a typo (or maybe the 4th of January NOT2020 if you prefer). It’s only a flip of the calendar page but how different it becomes is, well, up to us.
Progressive Maryland is setting priorities for the Maryland Legislature’s session THIS Saturday
You're invited to our Annual Membership Assembly! for dues-paying members or members of our affiliated organizations.. Please join us (virtually of course!) this Saturday,January 9th, 2021 from 2-5pm so you can learn about our top priorities for the upcoming session, get more involved in our organizing and participate in membership elections.. RSVP here to secure your spot. Not a member of PM yet? No worries! You can join by clicking here and then attend our membership event.Â
We’re going to review the power we have built (including new elected officials) and the challenges ahead as we -- too slowly -- emerge from the pandemic emergency in Maryland.
We’ll look specifically at the Assembly session the following week on critical questions of flagging pandemic relief, and persisting issues of criminal and social justice, health care, climate justice and more -- and how we will vigorously and publicly poke the Delegates and Senators to do their job.
And we’ll elect new Progressive Maryland leadership to make 2021 another year of building power for working people and families.
Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, January 4, 2021
Yes, 2021, not a typo (or maybe the 4th of January NOT2020 if you prefer). It’s only a flip of the calendar page but how different it becomes is, well, up to us.
Progressive Maryland is setting priorities for the Maryland Legislature’s session THIS Saturday
You're invited to our Annual Membership Assembly! This is an important event for dues-paying members or members of our affiliated organizations.. Please join us (virtually of course!) this Saturday, January 9th, 2021 from 2-5pm so you can learn about our top priorities for the upcoming session, get more involved in our organizing and participate in membership elections.. RSVP here to secure your spot. Not a member of PM yet? No worries! You can join by clicking here and then attend our membership event.Â
We’re going to review the power we have built (including new elected officials) and the challenges ahead as we -- too slowly -- emerge from the pandemic emergency in Maryland.
We’ll look specifically at the Assembly session the following week on critical questions of flagging pandemic relief, and persisting issues of criminal and social justice, health care, climate justice and more -- and how we will vigorously and publicly poke the Delegates and Senators to do their job.
And we’ll elect new Progressive Maryland leadership to make 2021 another year of building power for working people and families.
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STATEWIDE ALERTS
AFSCME MD: No deal with Hogan
On January 1, the same day Maryland announced the second highest COVID positivity rates, AFSCME Maryland also announced that they had failed to reach an agreement with Governor Hogan.Â
"We are unwilling to accept less when we deserve more," the union said. AFSCME Maryland president Patrick Moran accused Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration of a pattern of discriminatory negotiation tactics. A majority of the union’s members are women and people of color. AFSCME also accused the Republican governor of playing partisan politics, alleging that while Maryland police unions, including the the State Law Enforcement Officer’s Labor Alliance, were recently granted a pay increase of more than 20% over three years, AFSCME members were offered just a 1-year, 1% raise “contingent on revenue.” Maryland Matters reports the back-and-forth between union and Hogan’s negotiators, with Moran firing back “We are not done with this yet ... We think that more Marylanders need to know about this and the absolute disregard for public health and safety that the governor has shown in this instance.”
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Legislative priorities -- Speaking of labor, a coalition “Protect MD Workers” is among progressive allies who will be bringing a do-it-now agenda to our General Assembly, asking them to make up for their pathetic failure to call a special session virtually in 2020 to complete the work they abandoned as the pandemic took hold.
The General Assembly convenes next week. Find out more right here about the bold action that working families need from our elected officials.Â
Progressive Maryland’s agenda will be finalized at Saturday’s Member Assembly. Follow these links to see priorities from our allies, including Job Opportunities Task Force and Md Legislative Coalition (includes hearings for the first week). The Maryland Center on Economic Policy argues that real tax fairness will bring the resources that can answer Marylanders’ needs.
Friday, January 8 7pm | Our Revolution MoCo Legislative Priorities Town Hall includes  Dels. Julie Palakovich Carr, Gabe Acevero, Vaughn Stewart and David Moon.
COVID-19 -- THE LATEST
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We’ve begun the new year with a vaccine, that’s the good news. The bad news is that the roll out is going quite slowly in Maryland hampering the plans of many local health departments especially in rural areas of the state like Garrett County. It would be good to hear from Governor Hogan and statewide leaders about what the state is doing to quickly correct the problem. We’ve had some success in Maryland in managing the Coronavirus but we’ve also seen major issues with the management of the state’s Unemployment Insurance program (still not up to par) and the thousands of testing kits purchased in the spring that went unused.Â
The national media’s designated anti-Trump hero MD Gov. Larry Hogan continues to fail where it counts — in his own state. As of Dec. 31, more than 80% of vaccines from the initial allotment to Maryland have not been distributed, the Sun reports. And Bloomberg ranked Maryland the state with the lowest percentage in administering vaccines available. We’re paying him for this? Perhaps he should stop swanning around the Sunday talk shows and focus on the health of Marylanders. Updated from the email Memo, we see "In Maryland, less than one-quarter of the state’s initial batch of 273,875 vaccines has been used, according to state data released Monday" from the WaPo.
Learn more about the state’s vaccine distribution plans here.Â
The grim numbers are climbing statewide, the Sun reports -- as of Monday morning, Sunday’s additions bring the state’s total to 285,319 cases of COVID-19, and 5,826 people who have died due to the disease or complications from it.The case numbers, positivity rates, now at over 9%, and the rate of hospitalizations continue to be of great concern. That’s why public health guidelines and restrictions on business and other activities remain so important for individuals and state officials to follow and uphold. Please mask up, limit or eliminate non-essential travel, and avoid in-person gatherings. Encourage elected officials to stay strong on public health measures. And send a message to Gov. Hogan and our Senate President and House Speaker by signing Maryland COVID-19 Healthcare petition
Take Action
Georgia Senate Election tomorrow, Tuesday January 5. Control of the U.S.Senate is on the line and you can make a difference.Â
Join a phone bank tonight or tomorrow with our national affiliate. https://www.mobilize.us/peoplesaction/event/366231/
NATIONAL BRIEFS
Trump’s caregivers have a near-impossible job: if they keep him off Twitter he gets on the phone to berate officials in Georgia (and gets taped). They won’t have to watch him after Inauguration, we guess, but somebody will have to -- although his options may be reduced (Kara Swisher predicts he is almost certain to be kicked off Twitter for abusive practices once he is no longer Prez)
Elected officials and community leaders are urging folks to stay home and be safe from the pro-Trump vigilantes who say they will hold events on Wednesday, January 6 in the District of Columbia. No one needs to take the risk of being exposed to them in their desperate attempt to undermine the election. Updating the email Memo, here's the WaPo again: "The District has mobilized the National Guard and will have every city police officer on duty Tuesday and Wednesday to handle protests of the November presidential election, which Mayor Muriel E. Bowser said may include people looking to instigate violence.
Bowser (D) has asked D.C. residents to stay away from downtown Washington on both days while members of far-right groups, including the Proud Boys, amass to falsely claim President Trump was reelected.
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The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs has filed a lawsuit against the Proud Boys https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eq6GP9FW4Ag9J29.jpg:large rising out of their attacks on Black Churches when they were last in the Capitol.
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OUR CHAPTERS AROUND THE STATE
Contact our Chapter organizers here:
Anne Arundel and Southern Maryland
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EVENTS FROM OUR ALLIES
Thursday, January 7 7:30pm | Town Hall on Beltway Expansion  with legislators including Transportation chair Kumar Barve. Register here
Friday, January 8 7pm | Our Revolution MoCo Legislative Priorities Town Hall includes  Dels. Julie Palakovich Carr, Gabe Acevero, Vaughn Stewart and David Moon.
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OUR RECENT BLOG POSTS
Reading the Progressive Maryland BlogSpace: our recent blog posts 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]
December 28, 2020 Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, December 28, 2020
Progressive Maryland is setting priorities for the Maryland Legislature’s session this January
You're invited to our Annual Membership Assembly! This is an important event for dues-paying members or members of our affiliated organizations.. Please join us (virtually of course!) on January 9th, 2021 from 2-5pm so you can learn about our top priorities for the upcoming session, get more involved in our organizing and participate in membership elections.
More below, plus the latest on Covid defense, national Covid relief action and PM's landscape of activism in Maryland -- plus our recent blog posts.
December 21, 2020 Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, December 21, 2020
On the annual winter solstice, we hope the Shortest Day means our dark winter of COVID will begin to give way to spring. Meanwhile, lots happening, including the latest on coping with COVID in Maryland, chapter notes and our recent blog posts.
December 19, 2020 Â "Deep Canvassing" comes to Georgia at a crucial moment
Georgia is the center of the political universe right now, but how can hi-n-bye GOTV efforts build lasting change? People's Action, the national affiliate of Progressive Maryland, is one of the organizations trying to bring "deep canvassing" approaches to make relationships that last between elections, and build power in communities that need it. "We can't afford to just contact people every four years," said a PA organizer. "What does that build? We need to build power from the bottom up."
Read about how PA is making it happen in Georgia. It's a model Progressive Maryland and other groups are bringing to make change in our state..
December 11, 2020 How Progressive Maryland is preparing for 2021. You are included.
This past Tuesday evening Progressive Maryland hosted our virtual Member Welcome meeting to build community and learn about what it means to be a member of Progressive Maryland. We were joined by both the longtime and relatively new members who make our organization what it is.
We want to build momentum from this meeting and head into 2021 ready to increase our grassroots power across the state, so this post is to carry that meeting’s messages to those who were unable to participate. Here's how we work together to make change in Maryland.
November 24, 2020 Exciting News! We were voted one of the best nonprofits in the DC region!
🎉 Exciting news: The Catalogue for Philanthropy has chosen Progressive Maryland as one of the best nonprofits in the DC region! We were selected from a competitive applicant pool by passing through a rigorous review process conducted by a team of 170+ pro bono reviewers from foundations, corporate giving programs, peer nonprofits, local government agencies, and the philanthropic advisory community. We are so honored to be part of this powerful cohort of local changemakers! 🔥
REMEMBER – these blog posts are frequently expressions of political opinion from our wide-ranging membership and circle of allies. They are not expressions of opinion by Progressive Maryland. Don’t be surprised if they sometimes vary in their political content. You might even disagree with them – a good reason to contribute a blog of your own. Send it to the moderator, Woody Woodruff, at [email protected].Â
>>Keeping up with the blogs is easier with the index. The blogs published in the PM BlogSpace from June 2015 through December 2016 are all available with descriptions and links here. You can follow blogs for 2017-18 starting from here
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