Moving Maryland Forward Network

As a straight, black labor organizer, Ezekiel Jackson is not the conventional face of gay rights. But as a visible defender of queer justice to the non-queer population, Jackson was the ideal choice for the presidency of Marylanders for Marriage Equality, a coalition of progressive groups. Last month, MFME made Maryland the eighth state to legalize same-sex marriage, just two weeks after Washington became number seven.

After meeting with key Senate leaders for over an hour this afternoon, Gov. Martin O'Malley said progress is being made toward calling a special session.

Moody’s Investors Service says Maryland counties could face a downgrade of their bond ratings due the state cuts in education aid and the new maintenance of effort law “limiting the ability of local governments to cut their own spending.”

Republican legislators and conservative groups are mounting a campaign against a special session of the legislature to raise taxes, as teachers and public employees advocates are organizing to bring the lawmakers back to Annapolis to do just that.

Politics in the 2012 Session

One of the things I remember from my American Government class in college was the definition of politics as “who gets what, when, and how”.  This simple definition (that I attributed to the cute grad student who taught the class, but is actually by the political scientist, Harold Lasswell) has stayed with me since then.

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How Did We Do? My Take on the 2012 Maryland Legislative Session

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about what would happen if we allowed a “doomsday” budget.Unfortunately, we are closer to facing tremendous budget cuts than ever before because the House and Senate have failed to come to an agreement. Unless O’Malley calls a special session for the House and Senate to reconcile their budget plans, Maryland will face its largest education cuts in years. As the Maryland Budget & Tax Policy Institute said, it is a “budgetary train wreck.” I’m disillusioned and disappointed in our elected officials’ failure to protect our investments in education, health care, law enforcement, and many other essential services.

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Maryland Monday Message: Head Start a Foothold to Future

Single mother Franora Gray and her 4-year-old daughter Hylah Frances, a first year Ellicott City Head Start student, are reaching for the stars despite down to earth concerns. That’s just what the comprehensive school-readiness program aims to foster. “From the time I pick her up at the bus stop until she goes to bed, she sings songs and talks a mile a minute about daily school trips. They ‘travel’ all over the world through reading – they even took a trip to the moon when they studied space exploration.” Adds Ms. Gray, “She is learning far more in Head Start than what I’m able to teach her at home.” And the benefits don’t end there: Head Start promotes school readiness by offering educational, health, nutritional, and social and other services to enrolled children and families. Ms. Gray struggles to care for her family because of unemployment and chronic health problems.

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