A Monday morning note from the Associated Press about the (according to Trump) affordability “hoax”: “A barrel of Brent crude [oil], the international standard, was trading at $79.41 per barrel early Monday, according to FactSet, up 9% from its trading price of $72.87 on Friday, at the time a seven-month high. Higher global energy prices mean consumers will pay more for gasoline at the pump and have to shell out more for groceries and other goods at a time when many are already feeling the impacts of elevated inflation.”

So, back to forever wars (see Megan E's national report below). It's a good distraction, if you are Donald Trump, from the failure of his claims of affordability, the continued fascist brutality of ICE in Maryland and elsewhere, and the menace of Trump's threats to take over the way elections are run (constitutionally a job that states do.)

Working families have learned to duck and cover to preserve their already shaky jobs and livelihoods while the wars of choice flicker overhead. Marylanders' control and influence over the work of their own government and lawmaking remain, so don't duck so far you miss opportunities to increase our power and agency at our own level. Those options are always there, as we see each week in the Memo.

It's News You Can Use, peacetime or not.

HERE IN MARYLAND

Summaries from Maryland Reporter

Maryland Lawmakers Split Over Attack On Iran: Maryland lawmakers split sharply on Saturday over U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran, with Democrats condemning the action as unconstitutional and reckless while at least one Republican argued the Trump administration had no choice but to act. Baltimore Sun. >> Maryland’s congressional delegation is speaking out against the U.S. attack on Iran over the weekend. Many are concerned about presidential overreach and say they support a War Powers Resolution, which would require the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of an attack and forbids the White House from keeping troops in Iran for more than 60 days without Congressional approval. WYPR-FM.

Black SUVs Move Into Washington Co Warehouse, Signaling Ice Actions: Advocacy groups are raising concerns over a warehouse in Washington County that is slated to become an ICE processing facility after dozens of black SUVs were moved to the warehouse’s parking lot on Sunday. “When federal enforcement vehicles begin lining the warehouse lot, it sends a clear message about what’s taking shape in our community,” said the organizer of Hagerstown Rapid Response, Claire Connor. Baltimore Sun. >>DHS Rejected Three Other MD Warehouses As Detention Centers: As the federal government turns a Washington County warehouse into an immigration detention center, a new document shows the Department of Homeland Security also considered three sites in the Baltimore region. A document addressing flood plain issues at the Washington County site revealed three other sites that were considered and rejected for the massive detention center: two in Baltimore County and one in Anne Arundel County. Baltimore Banner.

Important Bills Are Moving through the General Assembly and Progressive Maryland advocates need to push them. See the list in this week’s Memo and also consider this diligent work from the Maryland Legislative Coalition. Also keep up with your own best chances for input on these bills in the MLC’s advance list of critical hearings.

Efforts To Preserve Black History Continue Despite Push By Trump Administration: Maryland advocates, conservationists and museum leaders said they will continue working to preserve the state’s Black history despite what they call federal attempts to dismantle programs. Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.

Moore And Others Demand Trump Refund $1,744 Per Household: Gov. Wes Moore, along with the state’s top fiscal leaders, demanded President Donald Trump pay back every Maryland household $1,744, after the Supreme Court struck down the Republican president’s sweeping import tariffs. Baltimore Banner.

U.S. Supremes Let Stand Maryland Gun Seizure Law: The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a Maryland Supreme Court ruling that said the state is justified in banning gun possession by people who have been sentenced to two years or more in prison, whether or not the crime they committed was a felony or a crime of violence. Maryland Matters.

Bipartisan Support for Inspectors General to Secure Reform: Maryland’s inspectors general may now have a better chance of securing the reform they’re seeking to access records needed for investigations. Democratic Del. Vaughn Stewart and Republican Del. Ryan Nawrocki have partnered up to introduce bipartisan legislation that would clarify in Maryland law that inspectors general are not subject to standard Maryland Public Information Act request restrictions when conducting official investigations. Baltimore Banner.

Senate Panel OKs Bill Cutting Crime List For Charging Youth As Adults: A Senate committee gave overwhelming approval to a bill Friday that would reduce the number of crimes for which a youth would be automatically charged as an adult, a proposal that’s been worked on for more than a decade. The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee voted 10-1 for Senate Bill 323, which could be debated by the full Senate as soon as next week. Maryland Matters.

Novartis Settles With Henrietta Lacks Family Over Use Of Stolen Cells: The pharmaceutical giant Novartis has reached a settlement with the family of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cells were taken from her without her consent in 1951, when she was dying of cervical cancer in a segregated ward at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.  New York Times.

Towson Times To Cease Print Edition: The Towson Times published its final print edition on Wednesday, Feb. 25, marking the end of a long local newspaper tradition in the county seat of Baltimore County. In a front page “Note to Readers,” the Towson Times announced that changing reader habits, shifting advertiser priorities, and the rising cost of print and delivery have led to the decision to end the print product. Towson Torch.

MDOT Lots, Brownfields To Host $50m In State Solar Panels: About $50 million worth of solar panels will appear in Maryland Department of Transportation parking lots and brownfields in coming years, paid for with money from a state renewable energy fund that has been in the news recently. State officials are not ready to identify the 25 potential sites for solar just yet. Maryland Matters.

Climate Groups Defend Energy Dollars Amidst Budget Pinch: The Maryland Energy Administration’s Strategic Energy Investment Fund —SEIF was created to help cut power bills and lower greenhouse gas emissions, but its exponential growth in recent years has made it a tempting target for appropriators. Environmental groups are building a campaign this year around protecting SEIF dollars. Maryland Matters. 

THE REGION AND THE OTHER 49

ANTITRUST: California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) is pulling together a coalition of states to probe the proposed merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. In a post on X, Bonta said his state “has a special interest in protecting competition.” (Deadline) via Pluribus. [note the Trump-favored Paramount bid gradually ratcheted up until Netflix, seeing the political fix was in, walked away from regulatory trouble.]

States begin to add public option to dwindling health care choices

Nearly two decades ago, progressives fought to include a so-called public option — a government-run health plan — in the broad health care overhaul known as Obamacare. That effort failed, defeated by heavy lobbying from the insurance industry and opponents who decried it as a government takeover of health care. But the final Affordable Care Act, signed in 2010, didn’t bar states from adding a public option plan to their state-run insurance marketplaces. In recent years, several states have done so — and others might follow as rising health care costs, the expiration of federal subsidies and Medicaid cuts make coverage less affordable and available for millions of Americans. This year Nevada became the third state, after Colorado in 2023 and Washington in 2021, to add a public option plan to its marketplace. Stateline Daily

[more] HEALTH CARE: Illinois lawmakers have revived a proposal to create a Health Care Availability and Access Board to set maximum prices on specific drugs. Companion bills in both chambers have yet to be assigned to committee. (Capitol News Illinois) via Pluribus

Other states [including Maryland] call those boards Prescription Drug Affordability Boards.

Ohio House votes to stamp out ranked choice voting before it begins

Ohio House lawmakers have approved a measure aimed at banning ranked choice voting. Under the bill, no state election may be conducted with ranked choice and any local government that decides to use a ranked choice system would forfeit state dollars. News from the States

ENVIRONMENT: The California Air Resources Board has approved the first set of rules requiring corporations to disclose greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risks. The rules apply to companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue with more than $500 million in climate risk, excluding insurance companies. (Sacramento Bee) via Pluribus

GLOBAL, NATIONAL AND THE FEDS

Our state of action against exploitation by corporations and their bought legislators does not change when a state of war intrudes. Megan E, the federal affairs director for our national affiliate People’s Action, keeps it in perspective with her weekly report:

Hi People's Action,

Over the weekend, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu launched a massive bombing campaign on Iran on Saturday morning, killing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and other leaders. Iran has stated that the U.S. has also hit two schools, killing children. Trump called on the people of Iran to topple the regime. 

Democratic leadership has called the war illegal and called for a vote to enforce the War Powers Act. Republicans largely expressed support for Trump’s war with the exception of libertarians, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) who generally do not like to spend U.S. dollars on foreign wars and seek to enforce the Constitution’s War Powers provision which gives only Congress the power to declare war. 

Iran has responded by targeting missiles at Israel and U.S. military bases throughout the Middle East. So far, three U.S. troops have been killed. 

Oil prices are already up today as Iran threatens to block oil tankers from various Middle Eastern countries from exiting the Persian Gulf. Around 20 - 30% of the world’s shipped oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, [essentially controlled by Iran’s forces]. Sustained rising oil prices push many other prices up at a time when there is pressure on Trump to curb inflation. 

You know the state of our democracy has reached a new low when an AI tech company is willing to walk away from a lucrative U.S. defense department government contract because it isn’t willing to cross a moral line that the U.S. is willing to cross. Anthropic, which makes Claude, told Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that they were only willing to contract with the federal government if there were guardrails in the contract against using the technology to surveil U.S. citizens and using it to fire weapons autonomously, without a human agent involved. Promising not to give the robot the keys to our weapons systems seems like a low bar even for this administration.

 Instead, Hegseth & Trump refused and threatened to and later did label Anthropic, “a supply chain risk,” the black list label that has never been used on a U.S. company. Anthropic will lose its defense contracts and no other company with a defense contract can contract with Anthropic.

During the conflict the billionaire owner of OpenAI, Sam Altman, swooped in and contracted with the Department of Defense.  

Also, last week, May Day Strong released our Real Affordability Agenda. Carriean Smith, a leader with VOCAL-TX did an amazing job speaking on behalf of People’s Action at the press conference. 

Trump last Tuesday delivered his longest State of the Union address ever. People’s Action Institute participated in a counter-programming event with People Over Billionaires, where people from around the country talked about the affordability crisis. Jenn Coffey with RAD NH and Donna Collette Ce’Cartel with Citizen Action NY both spoke at the event. 

 Congresswoman Summer Lee gave the Working Families Party’s response to the State of the Union.

In solidarity, 

Megan