WE ARE READY TO WIN IN THE MARYLAND GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION.

Progressive Maryland’s Dec. 29 Statewide Meeting connected and re-energized nearly 200 activists and We are refreshed and ready to struggle for real change, not business as usual, in our communities and at the General Assembly session that begins Wednesday, January 9.

What’s in store in Annapolis? Will what they do mean anything to the health of our communities? If we hold their feet to the fire, it will. Here is a roundup of previews of the session to get you started. Stay with the Weekly Memo by email every week to stay with the action; Sign up here.

WE ARE READY TO WIN IN THE MARYLAND GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION.

Progressive Maryland’s Dec. 29 Statewide Meeting in Annapolis hosted nearly 200 progressive activists. We connected and re-energized after a draining midterm campaign; We are refreshed and ready to struggle for real change, not business as usual, in our communities and at the General Assembly session that begins Wednesday, January 9.

What’s in store in Annapolis? Will what they do mean anything to the health of our communities? If we hold their feet to the fire, it will.

Here is a roundup of previews of the session in statewide media: schools and public health are foremost for folks in Baltimore County; in Howard it’s also schools plus environment, Hagerstown/Washington County wants to boost workforce readiness through the community college, the flap over Gov. Hogan’s business boondoggle bonanza plan to put toll lanes on the Beltway led our endorsee, new delegate Vaughan Stewart of MoCo, to file a bill requiring an environmental impact statement on the project’s effect on greenhouse gases. Two WaPo reporters focus on the hot-button issues of the $15 minimum wage, health care access and education funding, demonstrating that the progressive program is not going to be denied, even though…. Frank de Filippo in Maryland Matters has a “curb your enthusiasm” view of how much this Assembly, even with enthusiastic new members, can accomplish with its ageing leadership still at the helm.

(Meanwhile, the GOP tax bill’s punitive effect on states like Maryland, where we tax – and benefit – generously, could be rolled back by a measure introduced in the US House this week.)

We’ll keep you updated on ALL these events as the Assembly session unfolds between Wednesday and the sine die in April. You can get this Memo by email once a week, including summaries and links for all our blog posts that week – one stop shopping on important state developments, keyed to progressive interests. Sign up here

What happened at the statewide meeting? Check out the video:

Executive Director Larry Stafford Jr. said in our follow-up discussion: “When everybody is in the same room it is very powerful” … reaffirming the statewide reach of Progressive Maryland ... and members going back to their chapters after the meeting will make sure everyone can connect to that energy even if you were unable to make the statewide.

Coming up in 2019: one-day training sessions to build power in your community; local and regional meetings based on both issue campaigns and your geographic community; and house meetings to build power in your own communities. So stay tuned for dates and events and if you are on our Slack platform, find local or issue channels where the conversation can continue.

Director Stafford announced at the meeting that Progressive Maryland will take the lead on creating a Leadership Institute to consolidate our training exchange and focus our community power-building skills. A Politics Pipeline program as part of the Movement Politics effort will encourage participants to run for office locally – and be trained and empowered to run and win.

First session of one-day training is January 26 so save that date; stay tuned for details and an RSVP link.

We have included this message in every Memo this year – but as we launch into 2019 after our statewide meeting, it is more important than ever:

 It all happens for free… right? Not exactly. Organizing for change in our society and our high-maintenance politics requires both people and money. Keep change moving with a quick, secure impulse-buy contribution here. You know you meant to do it last week (last year??) and now here you are again...

OUR CHAPTERS AROUND THE STATE

Progressive Prince George's

Saturday, January12, Participatory Defense Community Meeting 1:00 PM at Oakcrest Community Center rsvp

 Meetings every Saturday in January; see our calendar

  PMD Montgomery

Take Action Anne Arundel County   -- Take Action AAC Events

Local Action TONIGHT Monday, January 7 at 7 pm - Testify at Anne Arundel County Council to show your support of ending 287g (cooperation with ICE) in Anne Arundel County

Those in favor of KEEPING 287g program in Anne Arundel County plan to testify at Monday's meeting. Councilman Volke is planning to introduce a resolution about the 287g program at the Council meeting.

Steuart Pittman, County Executive, will be hosting two public meetings about the 287g program. 

In the meantime, we want to show our County Council that the majority of citizens in the county are opposed to the 287g program. If you support ENDING the 287g program in Anne Arundel, please testify at the County Council Meeting on Monday January 7. You need to sign up at 6:30 pm to speak.

Monthly Chapter Meeting

Wednesday, January 9 at 7 pm at the Edgewater Community Library

Topics: State Legislative Session Priority Bills 

Jennifer Dwyer, Progressive Maryland Legislative and Policy Director, will review Progressive Maryland's priority bills including Fight for $15, bail reform, fair elections, salary history, and pregnant worker protections.

Eve Hurwitz, March on Maryland, will provide an update and actions for Paid Family Leave

Issue Updates & Actions - Healthcare (Chrissy Holt), Environment (Claire Miller), Collective Bargaining (Richard Otten), Education and Cell Tower/Wireless Share Facebook event

Other Anne Arundel Events

 Wednesday, January 9 at 11 am - Clean Energy Jobs Act rally

The Maryland General Assembly convenes on January 9. Join the Climate Stewards of Greater Annapolis, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network Action Fund, Interfaith Power & Light and other climate advocates in support of the Clean Energy Jobs Act at a rally to welcome our legislators back to Annapolis.  

The rally will be at the corner of College Avenue and St. Johns Street from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM. Come out to show our lawmakers that the climate wave is here!

For more information about the rally click here.

Progressive Howard County

Note that the Howard County Times has a roundup of local bills in the Assembly...

Talbot Rising

 See the latest newsletter with a post-election letter from the co-chairs https://www.talbotrising.org/newsletters31/2018/11/12/weekly-newsletter-nov-12-2018

Lower Shore Progressive Caucus

Read the Caucus chair’s take on 2020 candidate mania – plus a recent blog post from the leadership team.

PMD Baltimore – We’re still talking about Medicare for All

Baltimore progressives, Check in on Max Obuszewski’s highly useful activist calendar and tip sheet at http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/

 EVENTS FROM OUR PROGRESSIVE ALLIES

Wednesday, January 9 at 10:30 am - Clean Energy Jobs Act rally

The Maryland General Assembly convenes on January 9. Join the Climate Stewards of Greater Annapolis, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network Action Fund, Interfaith Power & Light and other climate advocates in support of the Clean Energy Jobs Act at a rally to welcome our legislators back to Annapolis.  The rally will be at the corner of College Avenue and St. Johns Street from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM. Come out to show our lawmakers that the climate wave is here! For more information about the rally click here

Sunday, January 13 Prince George’s Sierra Club group Potluck Social and Climate Change Update, 5-7 pm; Watkins Regional Park Nature Center. Guest speaker Dr. Astrid Caldas, Senior Climate Scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, will provide an update on climate change and its impacts, in light of recent high-profile reports. $5 with a potluck dish, $10 without, kids free. Please RSVP so we can get a head count, and indicate what you'll be bringing. Directions will be sent to those who register. RSVP here: https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=7010Z0000027LKaQAM. Contact: [email protected]

OUR BLOG POSTS as we embark on 2019 (!)

Reading the Progressive Maryland BlogSpace: our blogs for the previous weeks 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 blog posts: We are reprising blog posts since New Year’s Day to catch you up on content…

 January 04, 2019 Kirwan Commission, school reform and the funds we need NOW

The Kirwan Commission (education reform) is still working out the funding formula for sharing new costs for reforms that member Sen. Paul Pinsky says "will be the envy of all 50 states" ... but the delay allows Gov. Hogan and his legislative henchmen to put off questions of money for this 2019 Assembly session -- they think.

However, "the commission is pressing forward with a proposal that puts the new blueprint in place this year, spends at least $200 million and, hopefully, $325 million this coming year, as a down-payment, and sets a requirement that $1.5 billion, the amount originally proposed to be spent this year, is guaranteed in next year’s state budget," Pinsky declares in this post, which originally appeared Dec. 28 in Maryland Matters.

January 03, 2019 Racial discrimination in the Prince George's Police Department

Racial discrimination in the Prince George's Police Department is discouraging the reporting of abuse committed by PGPD officers because Latinx and Black officers in the department experience retaliation for speaking out about it, spurring a lawsuit. New leadership in the county must take firm steps to enable full compliance and accountability in the department in order to end abuse of citizens by police.

January 02, 2019 Progressive Maryland -- First Weekly Memo of 2019

Progressive Maryland’s Dec. 29 Statewide Meeting in Annapolis hosted nearly 200 progressive activists. We connected and re-energized after a draining midterm campaign; we met in breakout groups by local chapters; and we also broke out and strategized around issue campaigns. Read more in the first Memo of 2019.

January 01, 2019 Five reasons not to get sucked into the 2020 election now

Democratic candidates are beginning to cascade into the 2020 presidential race at an accelerating pace. On New Year's Eve Sen. Elizabeth Warren was the latest to form an "exploratory committee" and others will doubtless do so soon, for visibility and fund-raising reasons. Lower Shore Progressive Caucus chair Jared Schablein ticks off the reasons that getting caught up in the madness too soon means we will be taking our eyes off the prize locally, where important work needs to be done and where local politicians are hoping you will not watch them too closely. He speaks for the Lower Shore but every jurisdiction in Maryland should take heed.

>>REMEMBER – these blog posts are 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].

>>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