More discussions are emerging around the state to build a progressive agenda for the 2018 General Assembly session beginning in January. Criminal Justice, social provision and education will all be on the table, and if we are not seated at the table, we wind up being dinner. It’s an election year so don’t let the well-paid business lobbyists dominate the conversation.

More discussions are emerging around the state to build a progressive agenda for the 2018 General Assembly session beginning in January. Criminal Justice, social provision and education will all be on the table, and if we are not seated at the table, we wind up being dinner. It’s an election year so don’t let the well-paid business lobbyists dominate the conversation.

OUR CHAPTERS AROUND THE STATE:

Progressive Prince George’s

Wednesday, November 1st - 7pm -- Co-sponsored event with Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and Our Revolution Prince George’s -- District 47-A, Del. Jimmy Tarlau’s legislative briefing.

Location - IBEW local 26 HQ – more in allies’ events calendar below.

You matter!  Get involved and get your issues addressed.  

Email the issue leads below to join a group. RVSP meeting attendance with the issue lead.

Join Our County Council Teams Today!

We are looking for a point person for each County Council District. This team will mobilize when needed to advocate with their councilperson on a progressive issue, or to support new candidates for the office. If you are interested in this, please reach to Diane Teichert, County Council Lead [email protected].

 Progressive Montgomery

Tuesday, Nov. 7 is the Fight for $15 Vote in Montgomery County Council -- Now is the time to show the Montgomery County Council how we feel about how working families should be treated in Montgomery County. The Montgomery County Council votes on a bill that would raise the county minimum wage to $15/hr by 2020 with no delay. Working families need us now. Can you be there for them?  10:30-11:30 a.m. Montgomery County Council Office, 100 Maryland Ave, Rockville, MD 20850

Also: Nov. 4 and 5, Canvassing for the $15 wage 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – build power, meet neighbors. More here

And keep up with us on our website, http://pmdmontgomery-progressivemaryland.nationbuilder.com/

Take Action Anne Arundel County

Progressive HoCo

Wed. Nov. 15 Progressive HoCo chapter meeting 7-8:30 p.m. Howard County Central Library

Warfield Room 10375 Little Patuxent Pkwy Columbia, MD 21044 .A representative from the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) will speak about organizing around affordable housing issues.

 And: Progressive HoCo and the NAACP of Howard County will be continuing their voter registration drive throughout the fall. Next date: Saturday, November 4 -- Chimneys of Cradlerock, Oakland Mills 6531 Quiet Hours Place Columbia, MD 21045  Please sign up here.

Talbot Rising

Lower Shore Progressive Caucus

 FROM OUR ALLIES

TONIGHT Monday, October 30 The Metro Washington Council AFL-CIO will host a Meet & Greet with candidates for County Executive in Prince George's and Montgomery counties with reception from 6-7 p.m. followed by presentations of the candidates from 7-9 p.m. at the Hornbake Library at the University of Maryland, College Park campus in celebration of the recently opened exhibit For Liberty, Justice and Equality: Unions Making History in America RSVP here.

Wed Nov. 1 – Legislative Briefing with Del. Jimmy Tarlau. 7 p.m., IBEW Local 26, 4371 Parliament Pl, Lanham. What are the concerns and issues that face us and our Prince George’s community?  Come meet & greet Delegate Jimmy Tarlau (D-47th Dist.) to discuss advancing a progressive legislative agenda in the Maryland General Assembly in 2018 and the potential impact various measures being considered might have upon the state and our county.  Panelists will pose questions about labor rights, criminal justice reform, defense of immigrants, campaign finance reform, protecting the environment, advancing the cause of peace.  Sponsored by Prince George's Democratic Socialists of America, Progressive Prince George's County, Prince George’s Peace and Justice Coalition and Our Revolution PG/ Come gather at 7:00 pm; meeting begins 7:30 pm at IBEW Local 26 4371 Parliament Place, Lanham.

Wed Nov. 1 Greenbelt Climate Action Network "GCAN Priority Setting Session" Discussion and decision on legislative and action priorities at city, county and state levels. 7-9 p.m., Greenbelt Community Center, Room 114 15 Crescent Rd, Greenbelt, MD  Agenda details from [email protected]; updates on Facebook event page:  https://www.facebook.com/events/440596766341894/  


Thursday, November 2 -- Progressive Cheverly forum: Can Single-Payer Health Care Really Work and Will It Work For Me? 7 p.m., Hoyer Education Center (cafeteria), 2300 Belleview Ave. (Parking Available) The Affordable Care Act is in serious trouble because of White House and Congressional efforts to kill it. But there is a renewed interest in Single-Payer or a Medicare for All approach. Come hear our speakers: Dr. Margaret Flowers, pediatrician and co-chair of the Maryland chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program, and Maryland State Senator Paul Pinsky. They will discuss what is meant by a single-payer health system, how it might function in the US, what is happening here in Maryland, and how to build a movement to support single-payer, including its role in the 2018 and 2020 elections.

 Sun Nov. 5 P.O.W.E.R., a Progressive Alliance event --Progressive Organizing to Empower Resistance – 1 to 6 p.m. at Montgomery County Council offices in Rockville. Hear from progressive leaders U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin, MD State Delegates Joseline Peña-Melnyk and Erek Barron, and Political Economist Gar Alperovitz. Workshop discussions to gain information on progressive organizing, build tools for empowerment and address the local economy, immigrant concerns, affordable housing and criminal justice reform.  The Progressive Alliance organizations are Democratic Socialists of America, Our Revolution, Progressive Maryland, and Progressive Neighbors (alphabetically) Tickets are free, but space is limited so please RSVP at this link: Eventbrite Registration Page

Tues November 7: Kickoff Event for Maryland Peace Action -- 7:30 – 9:30 p.m., Busboys and Poets
5331 Baltimore Ave, Hyattsville, MD, 20781 RSVP here  Maryland’s local Peace Action groups are joining together to enhance our power state-wide, under the name Maryland Peace Action.  Speaker is David Swanson,  author, activist, journalist and radio host. He is director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Suggested donation of $10.

Thursday, Nov. 9 MAGLEV discussion 7-9 p.m. at Parkdale High School – Del. Alonzo Washington is messaging constituents “Please join me and the District 22 Team for a Community Meeting to discuss the MAGLEV high-speed train proposal on Thursday, November 9th from 7-9 p.m. at Parkdale High School (6001 Good Luck Road, Riverdale, MD).”

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

To keep up with progressive events in and around DC consult the invaluable calendar at the Washington Peace Center, http://washingtonpeacecenter.org/alerts

 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.

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 posted these blogs:

October 25, 2017   Co-op strategy, a tool to empower us all, can happen in Prince George's

The Prince George’s County co-op will build power through organizing money and organizing people. Prince George’s County residents will be able to quickly move on issues that impact them the most and we won’t have to rely on outside dollars to give us the green light. Join us Saturday, October 28th at 12 p.m. for the kick-off event entitled “What If We Funded Ourselves?” -- RSVP using this link: http://www.progressivemaryland.org/pg_coop

October 24, 2017   Why Citizens United overwhelms public financing of elections options

In this well-reported Oct. 22 article, Meghan Thompson, writing for the political blog Maryland Matters, furnishes evidence that public financing plans will probably always be behind in providing an alternative to big-money dominance in elections as long as big-money dominance in elections is unregulated and uncontrolled – a plain outcome of the US Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision of 2010. Efforts to propose a constitutional amendment to reverse Citizens United are somewhat chilled by the fear that it might trigger a wholesale constitutional convention that could bring mischief of a much different sort. 

October 23, 2017  Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for October 23-30

As October becomes November, stirrings begin in advance of the 2018 General Assembly session. It will run from January to almost April, and then in a few galloping months the June 26 primaries for the November elections will arrive. In many parts of Maryland, the primaries are where general elections are won. So Progressive Maryland will be ramping up – starting now – efforts to make sure people are registered in time for the primaries. Remember, if you are registered, you can always decide whether or not to vote when the election comes around. If you aren’t registered, the decision is out of your hands.

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 starting from here.

 

woody woodruff

About

M.A. and Ph.d. from University of Maryland Merrill College of Journalism, would-be radical, sci-fi fan... retired to a life of keyboard radicalism...