Week in Review: March 2-7, 2026

This week we did a lot of prep work for the next phase of the campaign. We have been incredibly focused on arguing for multiparty and grassroots democracy in Annapolis, and that work is paying off. The 2026 legislative session ends in a few weeks and the campaign must be ready for the next phase.

So this week in review is a little more sparse, as we work on getting ready for the spring.

But we did go to Annapolis one day and there were dogs and robot cars there!

Monday: Three Stories for the Week

Monday's media briefing laid out the frame for the week: three things we were tracking.

Education week in Annapolis. The Baltimore Teachers Union sent members to Annapolis Monday night to lobby for a $25-an-hour starting wage for education support professionals, the right to strike, full Blueprint funding. We're releasing our education platform because the unions are in the building and the bills are on the calendar. What BTU is fighting for is exactly what Owen and I built into our platform, with specific funding sources attached.

The Carroll Park soccer stadium. Two bills — HB 1078 and SB 883 — would authorize $217 million in bonds for a minor league soccer stadium at Carroll Park. The money comes from sports wagering revenue that voters were told would fund education. House Appropriations heard HB 1078 Tuesday. Senate Finance hears SB 883 Thursday. Baltimore should have soccer. But not by raiding the education fund.

HB 101 gains momentum. We did more work to move HB 101 forward this week. The Debate Access Act would allow access to public television debates for all statewide candidates on the general election ballot.

The thread connecting all three: if we want to win we have to fight. If we want a solidarity economy that values workers, we need unions ready to fight. If we want fun and recreation that belongs to us and doesn't use public dollars to subsidize private sports team owners, we need watchdogs ready to fight. If we want an election where voters are informed, we have to fight.

Wednesday: Four Hearings, One Day

Wednesday was another full day in the Government Labor Elections Committee in the House of Delegates.

HB 1378: Corporate Power Reset Act. Favorable. If this bill passes, corporations formed or authorized in Maryland cannot spend on elections or ballot questions. Period.

It is a new way to approach the problem created by the Citizens United case.

HB 1403: Citizen Initiative Process. Favorable. This bill creates a citizen initiative process for constitutional amendments. It allows voters to sign a petition to put a constitutional amendment in front of voters. We support it. It is a core element of a grassroots democracy. 14 of our counties already have this right. We should give it to the state so we can break the Democratic Party monopoly on putting constitutional amendments on the ballot.

HB 1405: Campaign Finance During Session. Unfavorable. HB 1405 would ban all campaign fundraising during the 90-day legislative session. Sounds good in theory. The problem: incumbents enter session with money in the bank. Many challengers enter session with nothing.

I told the committee: this bill does not reduce the influence of money in politics. It just makes sure incumbents are the only ones who have any. The oral testimony used a lighter touch, too. Sometimes comedy is the right tool.

HB 1448: Municipal Elections Transparency. Favorable. Requires municipalities to submit candidate and voting information to the State Board of Elections. Basic transparency. You should be able to find out who is running in your town.

See all of our testimonies this session.

Thursday: More Important Bills

Andrew Eneim testified on SB 853, the Economic Development NDAs bill, before Senate Finance. He testified on behalf of the Science Policy and Diplomacy group at Johns Hopkins, where he works with early-career scientists on evidence-based policy. His argument was simple: "When key information is hidden, evidence-based policy becomes impossible." SB 853 would ban NDAs between data center developers and public officials. If a data center proposal truly benefits Marylanders, it should withstand public scrutiny.

Andrew is also our new Organizing and People Lead. That's no accident. The data center transparency stories we've been covering since November are exactly the kind of fight where organizing and science meet.

SB 883, the Carroll Park Soccer Stadium bill, also had its Senate Finance hearing Thursday. This is the $217 million bond bill that would divert sports wagering revenue away from the Blueprint for Maryland's Future education fund. Voters approved that revenue for public schools. SB 883 puts a soccer stadium ahead of classrooms in line for the money. We published a full op-ed on the stadium deal this week.

Thursday Night: Steve Llano on the Livestream

Steve Llano joined us Thursday night to talk about debate access and presidential debate reform. Steve is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at St. John's University and author of How to Watch Presidential Debates Without Losing It. He's been writing about how the Commission on Presidential Debates locks out competition for years. We connected his work to HB 101 and talked about what earned media actually looks like when a third-party campaign is competing, not just running. Watch the interview.

"Maryland could really become a beacon... a real model that a lot of national news might look to. Maryland could kind of set up with this bill the way political debates happen across the country. It's not a far-fetched idea because if the bill passes and they do it and it works, it looks good, why wouldn't another state do it and then another and another and pretty soon you have CNN doing it that way... I think it would really benefit political discourse in the country in a huge, huge way and Maryland could be the leader in that... I think it's important for the quality of democracy nationally, not just for Maryland, who is obviously going to benefit first, but for everybody."

We also covered our education platform and broke down this week's testimony.

Andy Ellis and Owen Silverman Andrews are running for Governor and Lt. Governor because the two-party system is a trap that doesn't work for most people. They're building a campaign that works for every Marylander, so we can build the Maryland we all deserve.