This is it! Election Day is tomorrow! If you or your family members haven’t yet voted and you have a municipal election, please head to the polls tomorrow to take part in your civic duty. Polls open at 7:00 a.m. If you’ve received your ballot by mail, be sure to drop it at a drop box today or tomorrow before 8:00 p.m. Folks who are not registered can still register to vote and vote in person tomorrow.

It's easy to underestimate the importance of municipal elections, but they are the backbone of our democratic system. These elections determine who leads our cities, towns, and neighborhoods, making decisions that directly impact our day-to-day lives. From education and public safety to local development and more, these leaders have a significant say in the issues that matter most to you. 

If you live in districts with elections tomorrow, we urge you to make your voice heard. 

Your vote makes a difference, and volunteering does too! Help us talk to voters in the next 24 hours by making phone calls tonight and tomorrow: 

Thank you, and see you at the polls!

In Solidarity,

The Progressive Maryland Team

Here’s what’s in today’s memo:

• • Election Corner: Phonebanking

  • PM Updates

  • PM task forces & issue campaigns: HCTF, EJTF 
  • State & National news

Election Corner: Municipal Elections Tomorrow

We've endorsed Martin Mitchell for Laurel Mayor, Iyamide House for Bowie City Council, and Izola Shaw for Rockville City Council.

Get to know the candidates:

Read these pieces on Iyamide House, Izola Shaw and Martin Mitchell to learn about their visions for their communities!

Yesterday, we had a fantastic Canvassing Day Of Action with the House For Bowie Campaign and we knocked on 566 doors! Thank you to all the volunteers who showed up to support the campaign.

Support all of our endorsed candidates by signing up to phone bank:

• Izola Shaw for Rockville City Council
  • Today 3:30-5:30pm
• Martin Mitchell for Laurel Mayor
  • Tomorrow 12:30-2:30pm
• Iyamide House for Bowie City Council
  • Today 4-8pm
  • Tomorrow 3:30-5:30pm

All you need is your computer - we will hop on Zoom at the scheduled time and provide the link to the virtual dialer to make the calls, plus give you a script so you know what to say.

General Updates:

This past summer, we gathered in DC with thousands of other organizers from across the country with People’s Action to start an organizing revival. One of our PM environmental justice leaders, Doyle, was featured in the incredibly powerful and moving video by Colorlines speaking about his story of living near the trash incinerator in South Baltimore. Watch the video here:

PM Task Forces & Issue Campaigns Updates

Listen Lead Share Community Conversations

• Public Health & Environment, November 13th: Sign up here!
• Environmental Justice, November 20th: Sign up here!

Environmental Justice Task Force: Public Meeting Will Spark a Revolution in South Baltimore

We are 10 days out from the Environmental Justice Task Force Public Meeting. With over 90 RSVP's, the event looks to be a momentous showing of support from frontline community members in South Baltimore. This event will spark a revolution in South Baltimore, and community members will have the opportunity to share their personal stories on the health and economical impacts of living just a few miles away from a toxic trash incinerator. In addition, during this meeting, the EJTF will share their next strategy for removing trash incineration from our state's clean energy program. Burning trash isn't clean, and through the process of burning trash the chemicals that are released are dirtier than coal. 

Meanwhile, CASA, one of our ally's, will facilitate a virtual storytelling workshop, and will turnout Spanish-speaking community members in South Baltimore. The public meeting is on Thursday, November 16th, from 6:15P-7:45P at Enoch Pratt Library Brooklyn Branch (300 E Patapsco Ave, Baltimore, MD). To attend, register here, and check out our recent tweet of the event.

The EJTF will host a canvass launch this Saturday, November 11: 1st shift (11a-2p) 2nd shift (3p-6p). The canvass launch site will be Enoch Pratt Library Brooklyn Branch (300 E Patapsco Ave, Baltimore, MD). We will also have phone bank sessions and need your support on the following dates: 

• Wednesday, November 8 (5p-8p)
• Friday, November 10 (5p-8p) 
• Monday, November 13 (5p-8p)
• Wednesday, November 15 (5p-8p)
• Thursday November 16 (12p-4p).  

If you would like to throw down and support these upcoming EJTF phone bank calls, reach out to SirJames.

Healthcare Justice: Taking Action This Fall!

Update:

The world and our movement for healthcare justice is mourning Ady Barkan who passed away last week from complications with ALS. Read more about this influential, remarkable man and his game changing contributions here.

We must carry on Ady’s work until we win Medicare For All and the transformation we need in our health and caregiving systems.

Make a Difference: Get Ready For 2024!

Help us develop our list of demands for Maryland lawmakers–they need to crack down on private health insurance companies! What good is a health insurance policy if people can’t use it? 

The experiences and the problems that everyday Marylanders, patients and caregivers, are dealing with in using health insurance is what will shape our agenda and bolster our ability to get regulators and legislators to do something.–take a minute to take our survey. 

Sign up to be part of our grassroots healthcare organizing squad! You can help us plan and take the next steps on our state healthcare issues like ending medical debt, lowering prescription drug prices, and winning insurance reforms. Join us here! 

Returning Citizens Taskforce

Camille Kramer and Minna Song from Johns Hopkins gave an informative presentation about an NIH-funded study to determine whether Maryland should implement a law (HB 116) that requires all jails in the state to provide methadone or other similar drugs for people who have been addicted to opioids. This is important to our reentry work as we seek to ensure that the laws we support are implemented so too is the need to ensure that there is continuity of care for individuals in prison (for treatments needed prior to incarceration) and after release. 

Research is important from the standpoint of public health and community well-being. They are continuing to look for recently released individuals for purposes of the study. Attached below is a flyer for individuals and organizations that might want to participate.

RCTF’s next meeting will take place next Monday, November 13 at 6:30 pm via zoom.  Please contact Kurt  for more information

State and National News:

What about offshore wind? Maryland's prospects become nerve-wracking as big Danish firm exits New Jersey project. And Pennsylvania's entry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative with Maryland and other neighbor states is still on shaky ground, too. Maryland's enviro community seems to like the state's overall progress against climate change, but a derailment of recycled plastic "nurdles" in Hyattsville shakes up the community. Maine voters may decide to shift from corporate power companies to public ownership. But the US House wants to cut more than a third of the EPA's budget. Good news, bad news -- but all News You Can Use, and much more. from Progressive Maryland's eyeballs to you. It still isn’t pretty, but it's all News You Can Use.

Progressive Maryland BlogSpace:

We value creating space for our members to express their thoughts on any issues related to our campaigns. Have an idea for a blog post? You can submit writing, film, graphic design, etc. to be published on our website to the blog moderator Woody.

• New Today -- Environment and elections (outside Maryland) get most of the eyeballs. News You Can Use

• A few leftovers in Maryland's fridge, plus tropical fish in the Bay and House finally found a guy without enough enemies

• Martin Mitchell is the Progressive Choice for Laurel Mayor

• Maryland, other states get it done while Congress doesn't: A self-made mess

• Climate and human rights action at the state level; Feds still paralyzed without House Speaker. News You Can Use

• Izola Shaw: A True Progressive Champion Running for Rockville City Council
• Iyamide House will be a Beacon of Change for Bowie City Council
  

>>Read more on the homepage of progressivemaryland.org

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Progressive Maryland
P.O. Box 6988
Largo, MD 20792