Maryland is characterized as a Blue state, but getting people-centered laws through our General Assembly, with supermajorities of Democrats in both chambers, can be a years-long grind. As Progressive Maryland’s recap of the session (see more below) observes, “Although we cracked the Senate for immigration protections and secured a few additional wins, the fact remains that the state’s political landscape remains hostile towards people-centered policies. It should not have taken the Maryland General Assembly so long to enact these immigrant protection policies and in this current climate, defined by a worsening crisis of affordability, rollback of civil rights, and white ethnonationalist sentiments, we need elected majorities that will act swiftly and in favor of working people, not corporate actors… A legislature that continues its legacy of stalling on people-centered policies or a legislature should be replaced by one that is responsive to the needs of everyday Marylanders.”

And it’s an election year. There is a countable, name-able number of Assembly members who are shirking their duties to their constituents and instead listening too closely to well-paid, and well-paying, lobbyists. Find out who they are and replace them.