In this week’s Memo, we have news about school improvement activism at the grassroots level across communities, the fuss about crossing the Bay, Medicare for All needs a signal boost in the House and the Prince George’s Council chair needs to introduce public safety bills. Plus our Progressive Maryland resources. Read on.
Progressive Maryland weekly memo for Monday September 23 2019
In this week’s Memo, we have news about school improvement activism at the grassroots level across communities, the fuss about crossing the Bay, Medicare for All needs a signal boost in the House and the Prince George’s Council chair needs to introduce public safety bills. More below, plus first our Progressive Maryland resources.
Progressive goals and proposals are continually under attack by the people in power – not only the wealthy and corporate business interests in Maryland, but also the corporate Democrats who parrot neoliberal “wisdom” about staying in the middle of the road because that keeps their campaign coffers filled.
You know them when you see them, and so do we.
Their dependence on big money and its big spenders endangers the interests of everyday working families in Maryland – for instance in the corporate and neoliberal pushback on the necessary steps to restore our schools to excellence, move to clean energy and end mass incarceration. To achieve those goals we have to build power with movement politics – winning elections and holding elected officials accountable to the people. Find out where our chapters are, below. Get more information about Progressive Maryland membership, and join us.
PROGRESSIVE MARYLAND DAY IN, DAY OUT
Our ideals are broadly and concretely represented by the campaigns we wage. At Progressive Maryland (and with our progressive allies) we work for environmental justice, reform of the criminal justice/policing system and cutting the school-to-prison pipeline, fair elections that loosen the grip of big money on our politics, and reform of the systems that keep our families trapped in poverty in the midst of wealth. We are formulating our part in campaigns for Medicare for All (see below) and for education reform in the path being laid out by the Kirwan Commission; Progressive Montgomery recently kicked off its participation in the Alliance to Reclaim our Schools (AROS), a statewide initiative with county-level focus. Progressive Prince George’s has been working in parallel with PGC Educators Association on the AROS agenda and the important Kirwan focus on community schools – there are forty-plus schools in Prince George’s that will become Community Schools in the next two school years. Watch for the next public meeting of the AROS coalition and learn more about the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools at https://reclaimourschoolspg.org
Progressive activism around the Free State, both Progressive Maryland’s action and those of our allied organizations and individuals, are in the Weekly Memo early every week (usually Monday unless a holiday intervenes). It’s a clearinghouse for folks who are building power together; and you can be in that environment of collective action. You can get the Weekly Memo by email; just sign up here.
Medicare for All -- Join other progressive activists and call to request a hearing on HR 1384 Call the House Committee on Oversight and Reform (Committee chairman is Rep. Elijah Cummings, Maryland 7th Dist.): 202-225-5051 and House Committee on Energy and Commerce: (chairman is Frank Pallone of New Jersey – tell him you are from Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s home state). In late July Rep. Cummings’s oversight committee held a hearing on the impact of exploitative drug prices on patients -- Read the excellent testimony of MoCo resident David Mitchell HERE. Meanwhile Gov. Larry Hogan is refusing to release appropriated funds for a project to lower drug prices in Maryland. Read about that here.
A Spanish-language community schools workshop for the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools has been set for October 3 at the Casa de Maryland headquarters (“La Mansion”) in Langley Park. Here are the details: “jueves, 3 de octubre, 2019 5:30 PM
“Sea lĂder en su escuela de sus escuelas comunitarias -- Academia CĂvica -- Escuelas Comunitarias
“Venga a aprender que es una escuela comunitaria, que significa para usted, y el impacto que tendrán en sus comunidades este año. Habrá refrigerio y cuidado de niños -- jueves, 3 de octubre, 2019 5:30 PM
CASA De Maryland (La MansiĂłn) -- 8151 15th Avenue Hyattsville, MD 20783
THE PUSH FOR MORE SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY SCHOOLS is at the heart of the Kirwan Commission proposals to improve Maryland’s schools. A new poll shows that about three out of four Marylanders want more money spent on public schools but have low information on what’s being proposed. Here is the excellent summary from the Maryland Reporter’s state roundup this morning, which has links to full coverage in several outlets:
POLL: 74% WANT MORE ED SPENDING; BUT WHAT's KIRWAN? Marylanders overwhelmingly say they are willing to pay more in taxes to improve public education, according to a new Goucher College poll. Luke Broadwater of the Sun reports that in the survey conducted Sept. 13-18, 74% of Marylanders said they support personally paying more in taxes to improve public education, while only 26% were opposed.
- But the landmark proposal known as Kirwan, which could funnel as much as $3.8 billion a year into public schools, is virtually unknown: 77% of residents say they have heard "nothing at all" about it. Of the minority who have heard of Kirwan, roughly a third cannot identify its purpose, Erin Cox reports for the Post.
- But only about 22% of those polled said they were aware of the work of the Kirwan Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, which has rolled out a decade-long reform plan that could cost about $3.8 billion more each year once fully implemented, Danielle Gaines reports for Maryland Matters.
Progressive Maryland activists and your communities can find out more about the Kirwan proposals: The “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future” coalition, including Progressive Maryland and teachers’ organizations statewide, has set 23 information sessions from the mountains to the Shore starting this Wednesday in Bel Air -- see them all here.
CROSSING THE BAY
Open houses begin tomorrow (Tuesday, September 24), and continue through October to discuss preliminary alternatives as part of the Chesapeake Bay Crossing: Gov. Larry Hogan, however, has already said which one is going to happen, as far as he is concerned. Citizens who want to see something other than more cars, cars, cars – maybe some mass transit alternatives – could have something to say for the record when, as is probably inevitable, the Hogan administration is sued for riding roughshod over the deliberative process. And opponents, including both local business interests and the state environmental community (Same Page City!) are lining up.
MDTA has scheduled the following open houses for public review and comment:
- Tuesday, September 24, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. – Kent County High School, 25301 Lambs Meadow Road, Worton, Md.
- Thursday, September 26, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. – Calvert High School, 600 Dares Beach Road, Prince Frederick, Md.
- Tuesday, October 1, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. – Middle River Middle School, 800 Middle River Road, Middle River, Md.
- Wednesday, October 2, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. – Anne Arundel Community College, Student Union Dining Hall, 101 College Pkwy., Arnold, Md. Parking available in Lot A.
- Thursday, October 3, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. – Talbot County Community Center, 10028 Ocean Gateway, Easton, Md.
- Wednesday, October 9, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. – Kent Island High School, 900 Love Point Road, Stevensville, Md.
PRINCE GEORGE’S ACTION NOTICE: Tomorrow (Tuesday, September 24) is the last day to introduce legislation for this term (until January) and as the County Council chair, council member Todd Turner is the only one that can introduce it. Progressive Prince George’s activists, can you call councilmember Turner and ask him to introduce an important public safety measure?  Here’s your ask: "Councilmember Turner, can you please introduce the racial equity in policing legislation now to improve public safety in our community by mandating body cameras, ending ICE collaboration and building transparency in policing?"  Call him at 301-952-3094 or email at [email protected] . – Beth McKenzie, PM organizer
OUR CHAPTERS AROUND THE STATE
PRINCE GEORGE’S ACTION NOTICE (repeated from above): Tomorrow (Tuesday, September 24) is the last day to introduce legislation for this term (until January) and as the County Council chair, council member Todd Turner is the only one that can introduce it. Progressive Prince George’s activists, can you call councilmember Turner and ask him to introduce an important public safety measure?  Here’s your ask: "Councilmember Turner, can you please introduce the racial equity in policing legislation now to improve public safety in our community by mandating body cameras, ending ICE collaboration and building transparency in policing?"  Call him at 301-952-3094 or email at [email protected] . – Beth McKenzie, PM staff Â
PMD Montgomery -- Progressive Montgomery Upcoming Events
A list of power-building events with Progressive Maryland in Montgomery County. Find one that works for you and join us!
Take Action Anne Arundel County
Lower Shore Progressive Caucus
EVENTS FROM OUR PROGRESSIVE ALLIES
SAT Sept. 28 Poor People’s Campaign Prince George’s Co 12-2 PM Oxon Hill Library 6200 Oxon Hill Rd, Oxon Hill, MD 20745
SUN Sept. 29 – The path to single payer health care in Maryland, 1:30 - 4:30 PM at Elkridge Library - 6450 Washington Boulevard, Elkridge, MD 21075 -- Join Senator Paul Pinsky, Chair of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee in the Senate, and Delegate Terri Hill, of the Health and Government Operations Committee in the House, for a discussion of the road map to Single Payer in Maryland. https://www.facebook.com/events/361641874764169/
Thursday, October 3 Progressive Cheverly Forum -- Immigration: Counteracting the crisis here in PG County, MD, at 7 PM, multipurpose room at Gladys Noon Spellman Elementary School (3324 64thAvenue; direct access to multipurpose room available via 63rdAvenue entrance), Cheverly. Speakers are Trent Leon-Lierman, Lead Regional Organizer for CASA, and Tana Stevenson of the Maryland Immigrant Rights Coalition.
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Sunday, OCT 6-- Eastern Shore Environmental Legislative Summit, 1- 4 PM (Doors open at noon) hosted at Washington College - 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620
The Eastern Shore is ground zero for climate change in Maryland. It is here where we need to make a stand for ourselves and our children. Explore the issues that face the Shore (and the state), what steps have been taken, and what obstacles we must overcome to defeat the existential crisis of Climate Change and other pressing environmental issues. https://www.facebook.com/events/361641874764169/
THUR October 10 AROS Forum On New Funding Formula For Prince George’s Public Schools at LAUREL HIGH SCHOOL, 8000 Cherry Lane Laurel 20707 at 6:30 PM Parents, students  and engaged community members are invited to hear about the Kirwan commission proposals and possibilities of well-funded schools — and make their voices heard. Sponsored by the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools. ALSO WED October 23 at Bowie Performing Arts Center, 15200 Annapolis Rd. Bowie 20715, 6:30 PM: WED November 12 at Prince George’s Community College, 301 Largo Rd. Largo 20774, 6:30 PM and MON November 18 at OXON HILL HIGH SCHOOL 6701 Leyte Drive Oxon Hill 20745 6:30 PM. Follow link for details.
Baltimore progressives, Check in on Max Obuszewski’s highly useful activist calendar and tip sheet at http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
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:
September 19, 2019 Democrats urge full funding for Kirwan education proposals as advocacy coalition hosts forums around state
As Hogan and his GOP minions jealously guard the budget against school improvement plans, the state Dems have urged him to wise up about the state's priorities and an advocacy coalition has scheduled 23 town-hall type information events around the state in the next several months.
September 18, 2019 Report outlines public option for prescription drugs, outflanking Big Pharma
We’ve heard a good deal of discussion about a public option in the healthcare system – the option that was too politically hard to wedge into the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
Here’s a proposed public option for production and sale of prescription drugs – one that could very well ratchet down the prices of drugs from the grasping, pill-pushing Big Pharma, star attraction in the Wall Street Casino.
A new report published this week by The Democracy Collaborative proposes the creation of a public pharmaceutical industry as an alternative to privately owned drug companies, which are focused on the pursuit of profit at the expense of the needs of patients and communities.
September 17, 2019 Leaders must live up to their promises on climate-change action
"Now we all have a choice," climate scientist and activist Danielle Meitiv told a MoCo climate emergency town hall Saturday. "We can create transformational action that will safeguard the future living conditions for humankind, or we can continue with our business as usual and fail. That is up to you and me.”
September 16, 2019 Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, September 16, 2019
Progressive goals and proposals are continually under attack by the people in power – not only the wealthy and corporate business interests in Maryland, but also the corporate Democrats who parrot neoliberal “wisdom” about staying in the middle of the road because that keeps their campaign coffers filled.
 You know them when you see them, and so do we.
 Their dependence on big money and its big spenders endangers the interests of everyday working families in Maryland.
>>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].
>>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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