...make it untenable to run for office and be against women's rights.

April 9, 2017 7:00 PM

Maryland has become the first state to promise to cover proposed Planned Parenthood cuts. The Republican governor didn't sign, but also didn't NOT sign (so to speak), legislation that will cover any cuts to Planned Parenthood, which many women rely on for health needs.

There's a war on Planned Parenthood. Even though no federal funds can be used for abortion funding, Republicans are trying to defund Planned Parenthood.

You can volunteer at Planned Parenthood.

posted by Huck500 (11 comments total)

Gov. Hogan also signed a fracking ban a little over a week ago. I hope he keeps signing or not not signing things, as appropriate.
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 8:04 PM on April 9, 2017 [3 favorites]

I signed up for my state rep's email newsletter, and as a Marylander I recommend it highly, because our state legislature is NOT HAVING any of the federal government's nonsense. Also Rep. Jimmy Tarlau is very excited to tell me about bills to prevent oyster overharvesting and improve the rental tax credit program.
posted by nonasuch at 9:19 PM on April 9, 2017 [10 favorites]

I haven't lived in Maryland for 10+ years, but it's times like these I'm proud of the ol' home state.
posted by Alterscape at 10:01 PM on April 9, 2017 [2 favorites]

Same here! It's been 5+ years since I moved away, but it makes me very happy to hear that Maryland is on the right side of history here, at least for now (always wary of the Republican governors, although I think it was Ehrlich who gave us Link Wray day). Also, nonasuch, I'm very excited about bills to prevent oyster overharvesting! Bay health means a lot to me.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 10:08 PM on April 9, 2017

It's worth pointing out that the government doesn't fund PP. It reimburses health care providers, like hospitals and clinics, for services rendered to patients. PP is reimbursed for non-abortion services in this same way.
posted by persona au gratin at 3:09 AM on April 10, 2017 [11 favorites]

These past few weeks have really complicated my dismissal of Hogan as an unvarnished, Trump-analog corporate stooge.
posted by ryanshepard at 4:23 AM on April 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

As an adopted Marylander (I'm from out west originally), I've been really happy to see this progression of my state taking less and less shit from the GOP, starting with being tied for first as a state to legalize marriage equality by popular vote (which was incidentally the first time I voted since moving here). Even when we have a GOP governor, the state is still able to do what's right more often than not.

Now, if only I could get frickin' Steny Hoyer to support actual democratic voters even half as much as he supports the entrenched Democratic Party power structures (you know the assholes I'm talking about: those that seem more concerned with their power within the party than actually winning national-level majorities and governing well). Why couldn't Jamie Raskin have run in my district??
posted by mystyk at 5:42 AM on April 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

The Republican governor didn't sign, but also didn't NOT sign (so to speak), legislation that will cover any cuts to Planned Parenthood

This is good news for Maryland, because

The governor must sign or veto legislation within 6 days of transmittal (excluding Sunday), or it becomes law without his/her signature. Legislation transmitted to the governor within six days of session adjournment must be acted upon by the governor within 30 days of transmittal from the legislature (which has 20 days following adjournment to do so), or it becomes law without being signed.

This is according to Statescape's table of bill signing deadlines, which notes that 11 states include some sort of pocket veto clause that pertains to bills passed in the final days of a session.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:07 AM on April 10, 2017

Yeah, I was also wary of Hogan but so far he seems to be one of those mythical unicorn Republicans who respects political norms and doesn't want to actively harm his constituents.

Also, re: oyster overharvesting, when I was a kid it seemed like all of my elementary school teachers were really aggressively gung-ho about Bay health and watershed preservation, above and beyond the actual curriculum (which already had way more about that stuff than any other state). One of my fourth-grade teachers owned a blue crab costume.

If you're a Marylander, I really do recommend signing up for your state rep's newsletter. Rep. Tarlau apparently has a scholarship fund for students in his district that he REALLY wants people to apply for, given how often his emails mention it. Actually I have just been getting a lot of good news about education policy that way-- we also have bills pending that require sex ed to teach affirmative consent, reduce time spent on testing, and make it harder to expel or suspend elementary schoolers.
posted by nonasuch at 7:22 AM on April 10, 2017 [4 favorites]

It's worth pointing out that the government doesn't fund PP.

That's true for Medicaid funding, but the government does fund PP for things like Title X grants, which is what the Obama reg and subsequent GOP repeal were about.
posted by jpe at 7:26 AM on April 10, 2017

Don't get too comfortable. MD is still a place where the working poor and middle class pay more in taxes as a share of their income than the 1% (and both Democratic legislators and Republican Gov. Hogan want to give even more tax breaks to the wealthy), where the state determines the minimum income needed to survive and then only provides 61% of that figure to our most vulnerable neighbors, where positive bail reform achieved through the court system is in real danger because of political spending by the bail bond industry, and where schools are underfunded by $2.9 billion, according to a recent study. We're the wealthiest state in the union, with the most millionaires per capita, and yes we are fairly progressive on social isues, but that just hides vast inequalities and economic injustices that we do too little to address.
posted by postel's law at 7:45 AM on April 10, 2017 [6 favorites]