The new governor rules the roost as the General Assembly absorbs his list of issue asks. His focus on helping low-income people and veterans, environmental advances and bringing state employment up to speed has been welcomed by most Dems and even some of the GOP minority. Moore's priority list is getting merged with the Democratic supermajority's own priorities even as they keep one eye on revenue and available funds.

We have much more -- people joining the administration, nuts and bolts of Assembly work and how to weigh in as community members, rail networks, tunnels and cannabis markets, other infrastructure, and even trees. Join us for the News You Can Use cornucopia for this week.

New bills are still being added to the Maryland General Assembly website every day, and we’ve identified our policy priorities for this legislative session. About a thousand bills have been introduced at this point in Annapolis. We will continue Progressive Maryland’s priority is supporting bills sponsored by our allies that address injustices in the criminal justice system, the realities of environmental racism, the dramatic inequities in healthcare, our economy, and other critically important issues. Stay tuned for news on bills and policy measures (good and bad) as we work to make real progress this Session. 

We need our elected officials to be resolute in delivering for the well-being of workers and communities across the state. And together, we’ll do our job of holding our leaders accountable.

The new governor, Wes Moore, is moving pretty quickly to undo some of the actions (and cast loose some of the appointees) of Larry Hogan's farewell. The new Assembly begins a four-year set of voyages with a full agenda, and we have help-desk folks among our allies who can map your way to influencing the legislators in Annapolis or remotely. In other news, abortion politics are 180 degrees out of synch at Maryland's Potomac River border with West Virginia. Stay tuned.

We’re pleased with the Governor’s announcements around some key spending priorities like higher salaries for state employees, and investments in education and transit. Gov. Moore is lifting up many issues that Progressive Maryland has on our legislative agenda. He wants to accelerate the schedule for reaching a $15 minimum wage so that it happens this summer despite republican backlash and he has allocated $1 billion to education and transportation equally under his proposed budget. In addition, the Governor has released funds related to last year’s Climate Solutions Now Act to address climate change in the state. The Governor stressed the importance of holding him and his administration accountable as the money is spent.

We’re closely tracking the legislation being introduced in Annapolis from our legislative allies as well as bills being introduced that threaten our progressive vision. As things continue to pick up in the legislature, you can expect more opportunities in your inbox with ways for you to get involved with our advocacy efforts. Look out for calls of testimony in the coming weeks as the General Assembly begins to meet more frequently on bill hearings. 

We need our elected representatives to support policies that invest in the well-being of workers, families, and communities across the state. And we need your help to hold our leaders accountable. Read on, and find more ways to help your neighbors, your community -- and you and your family -- gain power in this system and achieve a better life for all.

We are in the rapids and paddling furiously, now that the General Assembly has the budget from a Democratic governor to massage. Follow the news on that, as well as managing the transition to Blueprint schools and watching the energy improvement possibilities. It's all news you can use. Read on...

It’s been a busy month and things will continue to pick up fast in our government. Tomorrow marks the ceremonial beginning of our new era for Maryland as Governor Wes Moore and Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller will be officially sworn into office. We should expect the Governor to present his budget on Friday and unveil a legislative package the following day that will address education, transportation investments and finalize the last few cabinet office appointments. 

In addition, in two weeks all bills for the legislative session will have been introduced and bill hearings will be occurring more frequently. We’re eager to see what the Governor has planned and to see how we fair with our legislative priorities during session.

We’re excited yet determined to attain many progressive victories in the legislature and in our communities. 

Thank you for being part of the fight.

In solidarity, 

The Progressive Maryland Team

A new administration for Maryland will get sworn in tomorrow (Wednesday) -- except for new (and first woman) Comptroller Brooke Lierman, who by state law was sworn in yesterday (Monday) despite the holiday. As we note below, Maryland in the wake of eight years of Larry Hogan's tender care shows plenty of remediation needed. It's all News You Can Use, and you have our permission to get angry enough to do something about it yourself. Team up with others in a group that seeks a better Maryland. May we suggest Progressive Maryland?

House Speaker Adrienne Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson announced in a statement that a new hybrid system for meetings of standing committees in the General Assembly aims to eliminate barriers to public participation in the legislative process while nodding to continuing health concerns. The 2023 session begins tomorrow (Wednesday, January 11). Conduit Street, the Maryland Association of Counties newsblast, has the early details.

There’s a lot going on in Maryland right now. While the new cannabis legalization law won't go into effect until July, small possession of cannabis is no longer subject to criminal penalties as of the new year. In addition, the Maryland Medical Assistance Program and the Water Assistance Relief Program have launched and we encourage you to share this information with anyone you know. And in just two days, the Maryland General Assembly will convene as the legislative session will officially begin and last until April 12th. 

We can always count on the new year to introduce an abundance of changes in our personal lives and our state's political status. It’s a crucial time for us and our allies to prepare for the legislative session and garner support for any bills that will help fight for progressive change in Maryland and improve the lives of the working class people in our community. In the 90 days of the legislative session, we will be working persistently to achieve numerous progressive victories. As a reminder, you can view our preliminary 2023 Legislative Agenda here. 

Let's keep organizing and mobilizing against the injustice we face in our communities and across our nation. 

Maryland and other legislatures buckle down to their agendas for 2023; Covid hasn't gone away and MD hospitals filling fast; new faces in state government; Federal money and how to get it, and the Bay gets straight D+ grades. News you can use even if it's not all good, here courtesy Maryland's tireless progressive watchdogs at Progressive Maryland. Read on, and give in to the urge to take organized action.

Happy New Year! We’re excited to get 2023 off to a great start and—after ending 2022 with some historical victories—make this one of our best years yet! We’re kicking off this new year by gearing up for the upcoming legislative session which begins in just 8 days. Together we will continue our journey to creating a more equitable Maryland through our legislative advocacy pushes, community organizing, working with allies, and harnessing grassroots power.

We’re committed to holding our new and experienced elected officials accountable. We want to ensure that the legislature passes bills that make working class families the top priority. We will be fighting for important legislation in areas related to: criminal justice and police reform, drug policy, healthcare justice, economic justice, labor reform, affordable housing, environmental justice, education, democratic reform and more.

If you’re not already a Progressive Maryland member, we invite you to join today. Your membership powers our organization and helps shape our many task forces. Becoming a member is easy and flexible! We offer many membership levels and the option of choosing specific issue campaign interests. Please join our growing grassroots movement and help us influence what comes next in Maryland. Click here to view our membership page. If you join by January 31st, you will be eligible to attend our Annual Membership Assembly on February 4th (it only happens once a year!)

It's news you can use... since we last communicated, a big federal budget bill has been wrestled to the Floor and signed by the Prez, with long-running consequences. Congress is back and its leadership is being decided as we write (but maybe not quickly) and Maryland has a new "Trifecta" status and big plans to make the most of it. A lot has happened over the holiday hiatus, so sit back and soak it up, right here.

There’s an African Proverb that says: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. That sentiment and wise offering is on our minds as we look back on significant election wins and big policy gains in 2022 and look ahead to the potential that 2023 holds. 

Together this year we’ve been able to go far thanks to our members, volunteers, and leaders! Working with all of you, our allies and affiliates, we’ve built more grassroots capacity and increased our impact in the Maryland General Assembly and at the ballot box. 

Now we need to go further! Maryland can make some bold moves to tackle the economic and environmental problems everyday folks are facing. The legislature and the Governor can push for the investments our state needs to strengthen state agencies, public schools, mass transit, healthcare services, and green jobs. But some corporate lobbyists and entrenched interests are already urging them to delay or scale back things like budget spending, action on climate, criminal justice reform, and investments in healthcare and childcare. And as we know, the needs of our communities can’t wait. 

We can defeat the corporate lobbyists and their messaging by building more power! We need to organize a large base of supporters who believe in putting people and working families first. This is the perfect time to get involved and help us organize! Save the date for our Annual Membership meeting on Saturday, January 28th and we’ll be sharing the location soon. If you are not already a member, please join our growing grassroots movement and help us influence what comes next in Maryland. 

As the year draws to a close, the Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo will go on hiatus till January but the News You Can Use blog may pop up now and then in the interim  -- if Maryland produces real news beyond awards ceremonies. Let's all resolve not to be ambushed when the General Assembly fires up its engines in early January, while we are recovering from the holidays. What they do affects our lives.

Today, some stories are coalescing around health care, energy concerns and the economics of living in Maryland. Plus there's what happens in D.C. It's all connected, and so must we be to survive. Read on, and take action when you can. That's why we are here and what we do, and we'll still be at it in the New Year. Join us.

As a new cohort of legislators joins the returning batch of Senators and Delegates who will formally assemble in January for the 2023 General Assembly session, lots of advice is passed out and some of it may be taken. Many assessments of the changes resulting from the 2022 elections are that the chambers moved slightly left, though the state's well-paid chorus of lobbyists will probably not be slow to try to get their hooks in all concerned.

Maryland Matters provides an account of the newbies and veterans mingling this week, plus a list of the new faces that progressive activists will want to learn and cultivate.

Maryland progressives:

We want to make the most of 2023 and the opportunity we have to build state and local power! We’ll be sharing our full legislative agenda for the upcoming session with you soon. No matter what, we know that we need more power to forge a more inclusive, just, and healthy Maryland. Specifically, by growing our numbers we have a better chance of winning the funding we need for: our public schools, expanded healthcare services, and environmental protection. Organized people are the best way to gain relief and a stronger voice for working-class Marylanders and everyone who needs affordable housing and greater economic security.

In short, we need an organizing revival and we hope that you’re here for it!

There are lots of ways to get involved, starting with a conversation with one of our volunteer leaders or staff. If you already know someone on the PM team gives us a call or send a text today and we’ll set up a time to talk. Or simply fill out this form.

People-powered organizing is picking up steam across the country! Some examples include the voters and volunteers who are mobilizing in Georgia for the special run-off U.S. Senate election tomorrow, the workers who are organizing unions across the country, the activists who are demanding that we keep our democracy safe, and tenants everywhere, including in our state, who are organizing to stop holiday evictions and rent increases.  

Be a part of it! 

Maryland legislators have better-than-average state gun safety regulations in place, but free-lance Second Amendment types may hope to get the Trump-addled Supreme Court to overturn them. So the Assembly will work to make them, er, bullet-proof against judicial meddling and make Marylanders safer.

The very expensive and very necessary package of public school enhancements called the Blueprint for Maryland's Future is getting some tweaks from an oversight board before being put into play. The General Assembly is being invited to take a look at some changes.

Women candidates won new gains in Maryland -- and the rest of the nation -- in the November elections. As we see, it was not accidental.

And more progressive News You Can Use for Monday, December 5, 2022. Read on.

We’re in touch this week with the deep gratitude we feel for our members, volunteers, supporters and leaders. We give thanks to you for being a part of Progressive Maryland, following our accomplishments, and investing in our work. As the holiday season begins to take off, now is the perfect time to take a breath and reflect on the true meaning of this season–giving. All of you have helped us make this a milestone election year in our state. We want to continue building on our accomplishments and, with your help, we can greatly extend our achievements. We ask that you support our organization this giving season as we’ll be spending the rest of the year planning our advocacy work for the upcoming legislative session, mapping out our powerbuilding efforts, talking to allies, and getting ready for events like our annual Membership meeting on January 28. Find out the depth and richness of our work in our Memo. Read on.

.

News You Can Use for a slow week between one holiday and the next. Keep your footing for Giving Tuesday, and consider if you like your fresh water to stay fresh, how guaranteed income is working out in Charm City, how SWAT teams for voter fraud flopped, and Congress with one eye on the calendar more than ever.

We’re in touch this week with the deep gratitude we feel for our members, volunteers, supporters and leaders. All of you have helped us make the most of this critical election year! We’ll be spending the rest of 2022 planning our work for the upcoming legislative session, our annual Membership meeting and other important events. Thank you for all of your involvement and the ways in which you inspire us. We appreciate all of our affiliates and partners, too, who have helped us build more grassroots power this year. 

We’d also like to use this week’s opening message to express our sorrow and outrage about the deadly attack on LGBTQ folks who were gathered at Club Q in Colorado Springs this past weekend. The patrons were gathered to see a drag show on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance. Our hearts go out to everyone who was there, to those who are injured and recovering, to the queer community in Colorado, and all the families and friends who lost someone dear to them.

In this Memo: News about our election wins; about task forces and chapters around the state; a roundup of News you can Use, and catalog of recent blog posts. Read on...