Recognizing that this week, and probably the next month, is going to be light on activist events and meetings, there is nevertheless an important focus for us coming up sooner than we might think.
The General Assembly convenes January 9th for what has to be an interesting session, with a lame-duck Larry Hogan free to be GOP and a modestly more progressive Assembly ready to rumble. Let's start getting ready now.
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Greetings, Maryland progressives,
Recognizing that this week, and probably the next month, is going to be light on activist events and meetings, there is nevertheless an important focus for us coming up sooner than we might think.
The General Assembly convenes January 9th for what has to be an interesting session, with a lame-duck Larry Hogan free to be GOP and a modestly more progressive Assembly ready to rumble.
Your chapter leaders and activists will be taking note of local delegation hearings and session briefings between now and Jan. 9 and putting that info out for all of us – but you can do it too (see below for early signals about the session in the Assembly’s hearings calendar).
Those legislators need to hear from activists about what we want to see. Ben Jealous may have lost the Governor's race but his issues and his agenda – healthcare for all; a livable minimum wage; universal higher ed opportunity -- won. Don't forget that.
Keep your eyes open for local delegation hearings and briefings, both on local bills and statewide (because those always come up). Let us know about those hearings in advance so we can spread the word, and report on them – again, to us at Progressive Maryland – after they have taken place.
Activists should be aware that there is an Assembly hearing schedule between now and Jan. 9 and that a lot can happen; it should not not happen out of the public view. You may want to take a look at the Assembly’s hearing calendar for November and December.
And if you know there are activists who are not getting this Memo and might appreciate it, send them the signup link. And remind them their blog posts are welcome. So are yours.
OUR CHAPTERS AROUND THE STATE
Saturday, November 24 Participatory Defense Community Meeting at 01:00 PM -- Oakcrest Community Center rsvp
And every Saturday through December – see our events calendar
Take Action Anne Arundel County
Take Action AAC Events
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Monthly Chapter Meeting
Thursday, November 29 at 7 pm at Edgewater Community Library
Doug Prouty, Vice President of Maryland State Education Association, will be our speaker.Â
He will be speaking about the new education budgeting allocation formula that will be created during the 2019 State Legislative Session and actions we can take to advocate for funding of Anne Arundel Public Schools before and during the session.Â
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Other Anne Arundel Events
Environment and Health Briefings
The Maryland Environmental Health Network is hosting a series of briefings from October through December prior to the 2018-2019 legislative session. You can register for these webinars by clicking here. Â
Monday, December 3rd Inauguration of Steuart Pittman, County Executive-elect - 11 am at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts
Lower Shore Progressive Caucus
Join us! Our next meeting is December 5th 6:00-7:30 PM at the Wicomico Public Library. RSVP HERE And read the Caucus chair’s post-election letter on the website.
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EVENTS FROM OUR ALLIES:
TONIGHT: Monday, NOV 19 Reel & Meal at the New Deal -- Film about a movement known as "conscious capitalism"at 7 PM – 9:30 PM The New Deal Café    113 Centerway, Greenbelt, Maryland 20770 -- The film describes business strategies to promote the general social good. It introduces entrepreneurs who want to add social and environmental goals to the traditional goal of making a profit. Optional vegan meal $14.00 at 6:30, free screening at 7 PM. Our discussion leader will be Jon Ellenbogen, President of Impact Capital Strategies.
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SUNDAY, December 2, Maryland Legislative Coalition Pre-Legislative Summit -- 10am to 5pm
UMBC Engineering Building-Lecture Hall. Sponsors Maryland NOW, presenters Indivisible Towson and Montgomery, Takoma Park Mobilization,Together We Will Baltimore Area, WISE (Women Indivisible Strong Energetic) -- Register here . For more information contact Maryland Legislative Coalition at [email protected]
Baltimore comrades, Check in on Max Obuszewski’s highly useful activist calendar and tip sheet at http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
 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 and now here you are again...
OUR BLOG POSTS IN THE PAST WEEK
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 blog posts:
November 16, 2018 What School Funding Advocates Should Learn From Midterms
Marylanders, just recovering from a mixed-results election, will soon be presented with the potential price tag for the excellent schools program that the Kirwan Commission has developed over its two-year investigation. As Jeff Bryant notes in this survey of the pro-education surge nationally, the state has approved the “lock box” on school revenues that will make sure that casino money will add to – rather than replace – the total spent on education. That’s a start, but more will probably be needed – and progressive activists must be ready to push the General Assembly to in turn push Larry Hogan to fully fund schools – which, despite his claims, he has never done. Bryant’s account puts our need for struggle in context.
November 14, 2018 Marc Elrich has a mandate
A pre-election poll about issues -- imagine that, actual issues -- at play in the MoCo executive race shows "Marc Elrich not only won the election but also a mandate for his development agenda," David Lublin writes in Seventh State. Respondents favored "making developers pay more towards the county infrastructure needed to support the expanded population that development brings."
November 14, 2018 Congress is back. Can the US House "go bold" and make change?
With the return of Congress featuring a flip to Democratic control in the House come January, Progressive Breakfast asks if the risk-averse Democrats can make real change. "That all depends — on their eagerness to think big and bold," says Sam Pizzigatti, "on their willingness to challenge the concentrated wealth and power that’s keeping things from changing. ... Just pushing for such legislation ... would send all of America the empowering message that meaningful change can conceivably happen."
November 12, 2018 Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, Nov. 12, 2018
The next stop is the General Assembly session in January 2019. Yes, 2019!!
Memo readers: keep your eyes open for local meetings that are designed to brief folks on the legislative session and create activism around it. Send them to us for wider announcement.
 We will keep both Larry Hogan and the corporate Democrats (yes, there are still some) on the back foot and keep the lobbyists honest.
>>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
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