Statewide End of Session Update

Congratulations and thank you for all your hard work this Maryland legislative session! The session wrapped up on Monday, April 7th.

We were more engaged and had a stronger presence in Annapolis than ever before, and it was our first year that we (ACT, AIM, and PATH) officially did it as the Maryland Just Power Alliance! A huge thank you to all of you who came to Annapolis, organized turnout, sent emails, and worked on issue teams. Your work made a difference—congratulations!

This session by the numbers:

• Over 200 people came to Annapolis; double the number from last year.
• We met with 50 legislators’ offices, many of them more than once.
• We sent over 1,300 emails to legislators, a huge increase from last year!
• Over 700 people attended our statewide action in November.
• Over 900 people participated overall.

It was a particularly complicated legislative session, and we did not get everything we advocated for that would support Maryland residents. But we did strengthen our relationships and recognition at the state level and made important progress that we will continue to build on. 

Our Victories:

We played a key role in coalitions that passed several of the bills we supported this session:

• Climate:
  • The ReNEW Act (HB128) passed as a study bill.
    • The study will assess the cost of the damage greenhouse gas pollution has caused for Maryland residents, and identify the companies who have polluted the most.
    • This will pave the way for additional legislation which could fine polluting companies and use the funds to adapt to climate change.
  • The Ratepayer Protection Act, which AIM supported, passed as part of a larger climate package, the Next Generation Energy Act (SB937).
    • This will reduce wasteful spending on gas pipelines, protecting Maryland residents from excessive utility bills and encouraging the transition to clean energy.
• Pre-K:
  • Delegate Feldmark’s pre-K bill, the Mixed Delivery Model Viability Act (HB1475) passed.
    • The bill requires the State Department of Education (MSDE) to study the pre-K grant system and make recommendations on ways to improve the system.
    • Delegate Feldmark introduced this bill after our advocacy at our Nov 17 action to reduce barriers to pre-K expansion.
• Immigrant Protections:
  • The Sensitive Locations Act and elements of the Maryland Data Privacy Act were combined into one bill, now called the Maryland Values Act (HB1222).
    • The bill will restrict federal immigration agents from accessing non-public areas within public schools, libraries, and state-funded facilities without a warrant. It will give guidance that other locations can use as well.
    • It does not provide guidance to houses of worship due to concerns about separation of church and state.
    • It will also require state agencies to create policies to not sell or share people’s personal data.

At the same time that we celebrate these wins, we are deeply disappointed that some of our top priorities such as Good Cause Eviction and the Housing for Jobs Act did not pass this year. We recognize that this year we were working in the context of a historical budget shortfall and chaos rippling from federal policy changes. We learned important lessons which will help us as we continue to evaluate our strategy for future legislative sessions.

Please join us on April 30th on Zoom as we celebrate our wins and evaluate our statewide campaigns together:

Statewide Evaluation & Celebration

Wednesday, April 30, 7–8:30 pm, Zoom

Register Here

Thank you for all your participation in the Maryland legislative session this year! It’s been powerful and inspiring to work with you.

Katie Zinler

Maryland Statewide Organizer

Maryland Just Power Alliance Website