News_You_Can_Use_graphic_(2).pngThe side issues in Maryland's hotly contested Senate election are not only taxes and regulatory issues but they are Maryland tax and regulatory issues as well. The Senate race is spiced by attacks on Gov. Wes Moore's handling of such issues by his predecessor, generally an attack on Democratic governance meant to sideswipe Larry Hogan's opponent in the Senate race, Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. Moore is retaliating quite directly. Read about these and other state issues as well as the political back-n-forth in the Other 49 (states) and the Federal landscape as Congress returns and a government shutdown looks more likely. It's News You Can Use for this week, as usual a mixed bag.

HERE IN MARYLAND

Dozens Of Licensing, Permit Fees Have Risen Over Two Years: Driver learners’ permits and specialty license plates. Permissions to work as a barber, nail technician, plumber or engineer. Vehicle registration, handgun permits and cigarettes. The cost for those and dozens of other types of licenses or activities regulated by the state of Maryland are ticking up, according to a review of Maryland regulations and laws passed in the last two years Baltimore Sun via Maryland Reporter

Larry Hogan Bewails Dem “Rain Tax” [Ooops, that was the headline eight years ago]… Hogan Blasts Moore On New Taxes And Fees: Now running for U.S. Senate at a time when voters are concerned about rising costs, Larry Hogan hasn’t only evoked his history of cutting tolls and stifling new fees as governor. He’s railed against what he’s said are “338 new Maryland taxes and fees” enacted since he passed the torch [hot budget potato?] to Democratic Gov. Wes Moore. [Baltimore Sun summary entry modified from] Maryland Reporter – Also see nationwide news on state budgets in FEDERAL AND NATIONAL, below.

[…and turnabout’s fair play – if there’s anything actually fair in electoral struggles]

Moore Pac Airs Ad Targeting Senate Candidate Hogan On Abortion: A political action committee connected to Gov. Wes Moore (D) has begun airing its first ad targeting former Gov. Larry Hogan’s bid for U.S. Senate. Like most attacks on Hogan (R) since he entered the Senate race, the 30-second digital ad from the Unity First PAC, which is now live, focuses on abortion. Hogan, who has scrambled to ease fears that he will be an anti-abortion vote on Capitol Hill, began airing two ads of his own on abortion and women’s rights on Thursday. Maryland Matters via MD Reporter

  • Moore’s involvement with the PAC underscores the significant extent to which he has tied himself to the campaign of Alsobrooks, 53, the Prince George’s County executive. Analysts believe the Nov. 5 election to succeed the retiring Sen. Ben Cardin presents Moore’s biggest political test since his own 2022 election victory. Baltimore Sun. via MD Reporter

Child Care: Missing in Maryland? A CNS Series

"Child care: Missing in Maryland?" is the Local News Network/Capital News Service's comprehensive look at the child care shortages that have developed in most parts of the state since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Included are an overview of the shortages, a look at the difficulty parents have in assessing the quality of child care facilities, an assessment of what the shortage means for the state's plans to expand pre-K, and a look at innovative child care solutions outside of Maryland. The project also includes a close look at what's happening with child care in each of the state's 23 counties as well as the city of Baltimore. Links to past and current deeply-researched inquiry into the child care crisis in this (and other!) states are included.

Election Year Tax Cuts Next Door: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) says he is ready to call a special legislative session to reduce personal income taxes by 5%, and to support child care costs. Justice, who is running to fill retiring Sen. Joe Manchin’s seat, said he would issue a formal call on Monday. Some lawmakers are cautious as other tax cuts and spending programs take effect. (WV Metro News) via Pluribus. Will our state lose workers to our neighbor?

 

THE OTHER 49

 

Social Media: Facebook parent Meta has rolled out new parental control features in Texas to comply with a state law restricting kids from seeing harmful material online. The new tools allow parents to see and update teenagers’ social media account settings, set time limits on use and delete a child’s accounts altogether. (Texas Tribune) via Pluribus

 

NY Looking Into Nukes: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and state energy regulators are looking into ways to invest in new nuclear power reactors, three years after the state’s last nuclear plant shut down. Environmental groups have vocally opposed a renewed push for nuclear energy. (City & State) via Pluribus

 

Stashing Natural Gas Leaks: North Dakota’s Public Service Commission holds a hearing Monday to discuss a proposed carbon pipeline. Commissioners denied a permit for the pipeline last year. The $8 billion project would capture carbon emissions from 57 ethanol plants in five states, pumping those emissions to underground storage northwest of Bismarck. (Fargo Forum) via Pluribus

New carbon pipelines have run into opposition from some conservatives in North Dakota and Iowa, who have raised concerns over eminent domain issues. via Pluribus

 

Climate Battle in MD’s Eastern Neighbor: Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) has signed five bills meant to combat climate change into law. One law will allow the state to solicit offshore wind contracts. Others provide financial support for electric vehicle equipment and create a zero-emission standard for state vehicles. (Delaware Public Media) Pluribus

 

Red-State Battles Over Reproductive-Rights Amendments: from Pluribus MISSOURI: Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh ruled that a proposed constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights did not meet legal requirements to qualify for November’s ballot. The judge gave supporters of the amendment the right to file an appeal before Tuesday’s deadline to make changes to the state ballot. (Associated Press, Kansas City Star)

NEBRASKA: The state Supreme Court will hear arguments today in three challenges to proposed amendments relating to abortion rights. Two suits challenge an abortion-rights amendment, while a third challenges an amendment that would restrict abortions. The court must rule by Friday, the deadline for certifying this year’s ballot. (Nebraska Examiner)

And: Contraceptives Access: Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has vetoed a bill that would have eased access to contraceptives, the Alaska Beacon reports. The bill, which passed the legislature with bipartisan support, would have allowed women to receive a 12-month supply of prescription contraceptive medicine all at once. Stateline

Traffic Violence Is Up. Policing Isn’t the Answer. (opinion)

Traffic enforcement has a place in reducing traffic violence. But without a comprehensive, evidence-based strategy, it will fail to reduce fatalities and only put Black and Brown drivers in harm’s way. Op-ed in Streetsblog.

But whatabout: 3.2%: The decline in traffic fatalities nationally between January and June, compared with last year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (NJ Advance Media) via Pluribus

 

 

NATIONAL AND FEDERAL


Here's the Monday newsblast from Megan E, federal affairs director for our national affiliate People's Action:

 

A new New York Times/Siena College poll has Trump slightly leading Vice President Harris among likely voters nationwide. It’s just one poll but it shows that the race remains very tight. The economy is voters number one issue, and more voters still think that Trump is better on the economy (I know that’s bananas, but 40 years of neoliberal propaganda is hard to overcome). Abortion is the second top issue, and that's where Harris leads. Bizarrely, it seems that Harris is viewed as the incumbent (more of the same) and Trump as the “change candidate” and people are still pretty unhappy with inflation even though it has been cooling. 

The Trump campaign is painting Harris as the radical, socialist candidate who is for open borders, which could also be having an effect. Voters are viewing Trump as the more centrist of the two (!?!). This is likely why we see Harris tacking right, particularly on immigration issues as they court the mythical independent and swing voters. However, these same voters say they don’t really know who she is or what she has been doing so she would be better served by leaning into strong progressive positions and saying how she’ll go beyond the Biden policies to rein in corporate greed. The Vice President is certainly trying on that front, as we see her talking about policies to rein in price gouging at the grocery store and elsewhere as well as increasing taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

Democrats are hoping that abortion questions being on the ballot in ten states, including the battleground states of Arizona and Nevada as well as purplish-red Florida and some red and blue states like Maryland and Montana, will make a major difference there, where the senate races in those states could determine which party controls the Senate. 

Congress is coming back in session this week with one main job: to pass a government spending bill before the end of the month. Speaker of the House Johnson announced that he’ll hold a vote Wednesday on a continuing resolution that will fund the government at current levels (this is a small victory) through March 28th. He’s attached a bill that Trump insists on that says that requires proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. The Senate has said the bill is a nonstarter (noncitizens already can’t vote in federal elections). The package also includes $10 billion for FEMA’s disaster aid fund. The bill does not include a farm-bill extension though that is under discussion. 

Last week news broke that the IRS has collected $1.3 billion from wealthy taxpayers by ramping up enforcement with funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. The IRS has long said that it needed more staff to be able to go head to head with the fancy corporate lawyers that the billionaires hire to hide their taxes and defend IRS investigations and that the funding for IRS staff in the Inflation Reduction Act would more than pay for itself over time as the taxes are recouped. To put this is real terms, $1.3 billion dollars is the cost of capping insulin for seniors at $35 dollars for this year and it is also the cost the federal government is paying to build three new transmission lines across 6 states to help us transition off of fossil fuels. When Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in 2023, the very first bill that they passed was to repeal this additional IRS funding entirely. While that bill went nowhere in the Senate, House Republicans were persistent  and were able to get some concessions from Democrats by getting reductions in the IRS funding by leveraging the debt ceiling. There is a lot of populist gesturing coming out of Republicans today but it is clear that they still work for the billionaire class. Many of Trump’s tax cuts are expiring this year and we expect a tax bill out of Congress next year regardless of the elections. Of course the content of the tax bill will be very different depending on the elections. See resource section below for fax sheets on tax policy. 

WHAT'S HAPPENING: NEW RESOURCES

Americans for Tax Fairness Fact Sheets:

 Trump-GOP Tax Law Closeup: Restore The Top Tax Rate On The Highest-Income Households

Estate Tax: Trump-GOP Tax Law Closeup: Strengthen Rather Than Weaken The Estate Tax To Curb Dynastic Wealth

Corporate Tax Rate: Trump-GOP Tax Law Closeup: Reverse Trump’s Costly Corporate-Tax-Rate Cut

Pass-Through Loophole: Trump-GOP Tax Law Closeup: Let The Skewed-To-The-Rich Pass-Through Loophole Expire

 Top Marginal Tax Rate: Restore The Top Tax Rate On The Highest-Income Households

 

What else to read: This great Health Care Un-covered article, “Her Surgeon Said She Needed The Operation. UnitedHealthcare Said No.” features our Care Over Cost campaign cases and quotes People’s Action’s health care for all director Aija Nemer-Aanerud


Nationwide, State Budgets Wobble: State tax revenues declined in June in 27 of 46 states where preliminary data is available, according to a new Urban Institute study, a further sign that the pandemic boom years are in the rear view mirror. Total state tax revenues increased 7.3%, a rise driven solely by California tax receipts, after this year’s delayed tax deadline created an artificially low base. States used federal funds, and the revenues that came in with a strong economy, to slash tax races — 13 states cut income tax rates in 2022, and 17 more did so in 2023. Now, things are evening out: State revenue collections are stabilizing, and most states forecast modest growth in Fiscal Year 2025. Read more from the Urban Institute here. Pluribus

 

A Thousand Tennessee Autoworkers Just Joined the UAW

Workers at Ultium’s Spring Hill electric vehicle plant, a joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution of Korea, have unionized. It’s the latest case of the UAW’s Big Three strike bearing fruit. Jacobin via Portside

 

Obesity Among Troops Costs Pentagon More Than $1 Billion Per Year, New Study Finds  

Obesity was the leading cause for disqualification among hopeful military recruit applicants and the top driver of separations among active-duty troops in 2023. Stars and Stripes

 

Oversight Democrats ask for gun violence hearing after Apalachee

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee wrote to Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) asking him to hold a hearing on gun violence in the aftermath of the deadly mass shooting at Apalachee (Ga.) High School that killed two students and two teachers last week, according to a letter provided to the Early. “We know we don’t have a lot of time left in this Congress, but it is hard to think of a more pressing public policy problem than gun violence,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the top Democrat on the committee, said in the letter signed by 17 other committee Democrats. WaPo “Early”

 

International Note: Sales Of Dog Strollers in South Korea Outstripped Those Of Actual Baby Buggies Last Year. The country has the world’s lowest birth rate, at just 0.72 — barely one-third that needed to maintain the population. Half of South Korean women below 49 say they have no plans to have children. The number of dogs, meanwhile, jumped to a record high: There are now twice as many registered as in 2018, and sales of dog strollers have quadrupled in the last five years. Semafor

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...