The Assembly session is under way and we've set Monday, March 4 as a mass Lobby Day for Progressive Maryland members across 
the state. Find out more below. And we have a one-day training session coming up this weekend that will sharpen your skills at turning your activist passion into results and building power for your community. Plus all the events and actions in our chapters across Maryland -- all in the Memo.
The Maryland General Assembly has opened its 2019 session so see our roundup of preview articles in the previous Memo) and Progressive Maryland, in harness with many progressive allies, is working to advance a progressive agenda during the session as well as in all of 2019. Progressive Maryland has scheduled a Lobby Night for Monday, March 4 in Annapolis to take our issues and agenda directly to our legislators – save that date; more details coming soon.
And our skills in the process of power building in communities at every level can be sharpened in our next one-day training session, this Saturday, Jan. 26 in our Baltimore office. More details are here and you can RSVP at that link as well. We’ll be discussing concepts of power, self-interest and one-to-one.
Feb 16 is movement politics training so save that date now.
But meanwhile, local governments move forward on a general path to completing their local operating budgets by June; early town hall meetings for public information and input are shown below under our individual chapter links.
Progressive Maryland is steadily focused on the local-government issues that affect many Marylanders’ everyday lives, and on the power that can be built at the local level in budget equity, education and transportation. Don’t miss news about our activism and activism around the state; sign up here to get the Memo by email every week.
OUR CHAPTERS AROUND THE STATE
Saturday, January19, Participatory Defense Community Meeting 1:00 PM at Oakcrest Community Center rsvp
Meetings every Saturday in January; see our calendar
Saturday, January 26 Mass Liberation House Party | 5 - 8 pm
4103 Gallatin Street, Hyattsville, MA
This event will include a potluck dinner, discussion with members of the Mass Liberation Project and Progressive Maryland, and a fundraiser for Bail for Incarcerated Mothers. For more information contact Sarah Harper at 301.779.0256 or Linda Green at 301.356.5087 (cell/text) or email [email protected].
Prince George’s County operating budget budget listening sessions:
Tuesday, January 30, 2018 7:00 PM 
Oxon Hill High School
6701 Leyte Drive
Oxon Hill, Maryland
Thursday, February 8, 2018 7:00 PM
Prince George’s Community College
Rennie Forum, 301 Largo Road
Largo, Maryland
Tuesday, February 13, 2018 7:00 PM
Laurel High School
Spartan Hall, 8000 Cherry Lane
Laurel, Maryland
Tuesday, Jan 30 Community Conversation with County Executive Alsobrooks 6 PM at Wise High School; meet your local government leaders and learn about the 2019 Legislative Agenda and budget priorities for FY2020. -- email Zahra Isaacs to RSVP for the event.
FY20 Montgomery County Operating Budget forums are scheduled as follows:
TODAY Tuesday, Jan. 22 – 7 p.m. – Eastern Montgomery Regional Services Center, 3300 Briggs Chaney Road, Silver Spring.
Wednesday, Jan. 23 – 7 p.m. – Mid-County Recreation Center, 2004 Queensguard Road, Silver Spring.
Monday, Feb. 4 – 7 p.m. – Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, 4301 East West Hwy, Bethesda.
Take Action Anne Arundel County -- Take Action AAC Events
Legislative Action on Immigration
TODAY Tuesday, January 22 at 7 pm - Testify at Anne Arundel County Council to oppose Councilman Volke's resolution about the 287g program
Councilman Volke has introduced a resolution to ask the County Executive to sign an agreement with ICE and have county detention officers screen detainees for immigration status. The county receives no payment for this service and the county detention officers are already working overtime because they are short staffed. The county is already sharing data with the federal government so screening is happening by federal employees.
Resolution 1-19: Asking County Executive to sign an agreement with ICE and perform certain immigration functions in Anne Arundel County -- please testify at the County Council Meeting on Monday, January 22 to oppose this resolution. You need to sign up at 6:30 pm to speak. County Council Chambers at 44 Calvert Street in Annapolis
Legislative Action on 5G/Wireless
If you live, work or visit Baltimore City, you will be impacted by this small cell ordinance which will provide requirements on the placement of small wireless facilities without any regard for the health and safety of locating these structures near where people live, work or congregate.
Baltimore City planning commission is scheduled to vote on a small cell ordinance on January 31st. You can read the ordinance here. Notice it is positioned as aesthetics again without regard for health and safety. Submit comments via email to [email protected] and [email protected] or testify in person on January 31st.
Comments can center around health, safety, ADA issues, why fiber is better, privacy violations, preserving local choice etc.
Learn more about 5G/wireless here
Monthly Chapter Meetings
Wednesday, February 13 at 7 pm at the Edgewater Community Library
Topics: State and county legislation
Issue Updates & Actions - Paid Family Leave, Environment, Education, Cell Tower/Wireless, Collective Bargaining -- Share Facebook Event
Other Anne Arundel Events
Wednesday, February 6 at 4 pm - Maryland Environmental Legislative Summit
The CCE (Citizen Campaign for the Environment) is hosting an environmental legislative summit in Annapolis. The CCE is an informal group of environmental advocacy organizations who work together to define and support key environmental legislation during the General Assembly. RSVP here
Environmental advocacy organizations will educate legislators and activists on the key environmental priority bills for this session including the Clean Energy Jobs Act, the EPS Foam Ban, the Green and Healthy Environment Amendment, and the environmental budget bill. Share FB Event
Note that the Howard County Times has a roundup of local bills in the Assembly...
Tuesday, Jan. 29 “Priority Letter” public meeting. The “priority letter” from county government to the state outlines the county’s most urgent transportation needs. This year, the priority letter public meeting will be on January 29 from 7 to 9 PM in the Columbia/Ellicott Room at the George Howard Building, 3430 Court House Drive, Ellicott City, MD 21043. For more information, send an email or call (410) 313-4312.
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 County has resources for furloughed federal employees.
EVENTS FROM OUR PROGRESSIVE ALLIES
Progressive Cheverly Monthly Forum
Friday, January 25 -- Progressive Cheverly's annual legislative forum with our 47th District representatives to the General Assembly. 7:00 PM at the Hoyer Education Center (cafeteria) 2300 Belleview Ave. Cheverly -- The full 47th District Team, current State Delegate Diana Fennell, incoming State Senator Malcolm Augustine and incoming Delegate Julian Ivey, will attend. Come and learn their priorities for the upcoming 2019 Annapolis Session, and present your questions and concerns on legislative matters! Light refreshments
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 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:
January 18, 2019 Organizing to win governing power -- read all about it
Progressive change sometimes seems like one step forward, two steps back, but People's Action leader James Mumm shows how over time power has been steadily, doggedly gained by organizing -- and with the help of three excellent books he discusses here, he further shows that activists today have these "how-to" tools for organizing more at their disposal than ever in history. Together these works show that, as one says, it IS possible "to scale grassroots participation to a height that could actually let us go toe to toe with the billionaires and win.”
January 16, 2019 Progressive coalition loudly backs "clean" $15 minimum wage bill
Lawmakers, advocates ― and even some small business owners ― gathered in Annapolis on Monday evening, vowing to push for a $15 minimum wage bill. Ricarra Jones of Maryland Fight for $15 said more than 70 legislators have already signed a pledge to support a “Clean 15” bill, which would not include exemptions for some workers, carve-outs for certain industries or proposals floating around the State House that would establish different geographical minimum wages within the state. [Progressive Maryland is an active member of the coalition]. Danielle Gaines of Maryland Matters has the story and we include other info from media coverage.
January 15, 2019 Progressive groups in MoCo celebrate their winner in Exec race
Four progressive groups in Montgomery County -- who campaigned separately and together for endorsed candidates last Fall -- met recently to celebrate success. In particular they welcomed new County Executive Marc Elrich, a persistent left voice in the county, now in charge of a jurisdiction larger than ten US states. Hal Ginsberg describes the celebration.
January 14, 2019 Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, Jan. 14, 2019
The Maryland General Assembly has opened its 2019 session (last Wednesday) and Progressive Maryland, in harness with many progressive allies, is working to advance a progressive agenda within the session-- but meanwhile, local governments move forward on a general path to completing their local operating budgets by June; early town hall meetings for public information and input are shown below under our individual chapter links.
>>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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