Dear Friend,
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. Black History Month begins in two days and we’re looking forward to spending the next month celebrating the contributions of Black organizers and leaders throughout history and today. Be sure to keep an eye on our social media for some special features in the coming weeks. In solidarity, The Progressive Maryland Team |
Here’s what’s in today’s memo: - Legislative updates: Session status, new bills and our weekly legislative highlight!
- Event updates: Progressive Maryland’s Annual Membership Assembly; How a bill becomes a law event
- PM task forces & issue campaigns: Healthcare upcoming events and EJTF recap
- Local chapter updates: Harford County, Prince George’s County and LSPC chapter updates & Important CTAs
- State & National news: The new governor, Wes Moore, is moving pretty quickly…
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Legislative Updates: The House and Senate reconvene tonight at 8 pm and will post live updates on their website.
TRACKER: Click here to keep track of all active Maryland bills, their action status, top sponsors, and top committees.
This week’s legislative highlight: Criminal Justice Reform, Police Reform, & Drug Policy
Last week, we went over the many Senate bills we’ll be supporting under drug policy. Senate Bill 73 will have its hearing on February 1st and on February 2nd, Senate Bill 51 and Senate Bill 88 will have their hearings. Click the links to keep up with these bill hearings and action statuses.
This week, we’ll be covering two House Bills that address criminal justice reform. Progressive Maryland is proud to support House Bill 115 and House Bill 133 this session! The former will establish the civil liability of a police officer who deprives or allows another to deprive an individual of certain rights under the Maryland Constitution. The latter addresses remote public access and participation in court proceedings. It will require each court in the state to provide remote audio-visual public access to all public court proceedings.
Press the links to keep track of these important bills we hope the General Assembly will pass!
If you are interested in writing testimony to support these issues, please reach out to Christianne.
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Please join us this Saturday, February 4th, from 10:30am-1:30pm for our Annual Membership meeting. Covid precautions will be in place. If you haven’t yet, become a member in order to get your invitation to attend! There will be presentations, discussions, activities, speakers, and more. You don't want to miss this gathering!
This Annual Membership Assembly is an opportunity for us to come together as a community of people who believe a better future is possible. |
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Join Progressive Maryland to learn how a bill becomes law in the Maryland General Assembly next month. Del. David Moon, Vice Chair of the Judiciary Committee, will be our featured speaker providing a case study on a bill. Click here to RSVP! |
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Updates: PM Task Forces & Issue Campaigns |
Environmental Justice Task Force
Progressive Maryland's Environmental Justice Task Force Meeting, at the Enoch Pratt Free Library Cherry Hill Branch, came out with a bang. Ten community members joined the discussion table to address different strategies to political pressure on power holders in Annapolis and hold them accountable to the Wheelabrator-Bresco trash incinerator that has caused cancer and reduced life expectancies for Black communities for decades. If you would like to connect with the Environmental Justice Task Force, contact SirJames.
Check out footage from the event on our fb live page!
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Healthcare For All:
Our long term campaign to Make Medicines Affordable has shifted to the work of the Maryland Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) which was formed to bring down high cost prescriptions. You can learn more about the Board and sign up for their meetings here. The Board will present a report to the Health and Government Operations Committee this Thursday, Feb. 2 at 3:00 p.m. The proceedings can be watched live on the Maryland General Assembly home page.
In February, Progressive Maryland will be setting up meetings with key lawmakers about bills that will support PDAB, expand health care, bolster the rights of patients with medical debt, create a commission to study a state level single-payer system, and address other problems in the healthcare system. We’ll be part of a statewide virtual Healthcare Lobby Day on March 6th that raises these issues with legislators. If you want to support our legislative work and/or our outreach efforts, contact Patty
People’s Action, our national affiliate, is leading efforts to rein in insurance company denials, premium hikes, and the ways they’re using Medicare Advantage to rip off taxpayers, policy holders, and traditional Medicare. Read more about what’s happening in this new Nation oped. |
Progressive Harford County
Councilmember Bennett is being denied from serving on the Harford County Council in a partisan power grab by the County Executive. Show up and speak out about the county budget and to show your support for Councilmember Bennett. The budget hearings are on Jan. 26 from 6-8 p.m. at the Edgewood Recreation & Community Center and on Jan. 30 from 6-8 p.m. at Jarrettsville Volunteer Fire Company.
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Progressive Prince George's
ATTENTION: Please sign this petition to urge the County Executive, Anegla D. Alsobrooks, to undertake an open, transparent and community involved process for the recruitment and hiring of the new CEO for Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS.)
We are starting to reorganize our Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools [AROS] and education work at the chapter level in Prince George’s. Interested in learning more or getting involved? Do you have an organization that is interested in signing on to the statewide or local Prince George’s AROS coalitions? Please contact Dev the Prince George’s County organizer and reference AROS or education in the subject line and she will reach out to you directly.
From our community coalition friends Carol Hurwitch and Jon Robinson in District 2: The Bi-County Committee of the Prince George’s County State House Delegation is considering Bill MC/PG 107-2023 this Thursday, February 2nd. This is an urgent call to take action to support this bill getting voted out of committee.
CALL TO ACTION: Email and call your representatives to let them know that you want regular citizens to gain their rights over undesirable/harmful development in their neighborhoods and communities back by telling your elected representatives to pass this very important bill. We stopped the Council from passing CB 91 & 92, now let’s finish the job and urge our state reps to restore our rights!
Don’t know which rep is yours? Use THIS LINK to look them up!
Lower Shore Progressive Caucus
The Last Legislative Agenda Meeting was a great success! We have assembled most of the LSPC’s legislative agenda and will be tallying up the responses to a second vote on Gun Control issues soon. The next LSPC meeting will meet on Tuesday, 1/31, to vote on our top 10 priorities. If you are interested in joining the LSPC’s legislative committee, or If you have questions, contact Kris to learn more and get involved.
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State and National News:
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.It's all news you can use. We have tools for keeping an eye on the Assembly actions thanks to our allies at the Maryland Legislative Coalition. When we say “news you can use” we mean info that’s a pathway to building power for working families in Maryland. Click below and read on...
It’s News You Can Use, in digestible form so you can make change and build power sooner.
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Don't forget to follow us on social media! |
Progressive Maryland
P.O. Box 6988
Largo, MD 20792
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