Week in Review: March 9-13, 2026
This was a busy week, I spent three beautiful spring days in Annapolis hearing, rallying, and testifying for some of our core policy positions. We released our education platform, and then on a snowy Thursday Owen and I had a great conversation on the livestream.
Next week we are taking a much needed spring break!
Monday: Press Release and HB 979
Monday's media briefing laid out the frame for the week: three things we were tracking.
Two Israel-Palestine bills head to committee. HB 1382 would repeal the anti-BDS executive order that Governor Hogan enacted and Governor Moore maintained. The legislature never passed it. A second bill, HB 1455, would require the state pension system to divest from Israeli investments. When we first covered this story in November, the state held $73.7 million in Israel Bonds backing the retirement of 420,000 Maryland workers. HB 1382 got its hearing Wednesday. HB 1455 comes up March 19.
SB 323 passes the Senate. The Youth Charging Reform Act passed 32-12 after 14 years of advocacy. Maryland charges more children as adults per capita than every state except Alabama, and more than 80% of those children are Black. The bill is now in the House.
Constitutional convention reform gets its hearing. HB 979 went before Rules and Executive Nominations on Monday. In 2010, 897,239 Marylanders voted yes on the convention question and 751,228 voted no, but the measure failed because blank ballots counted against it. I testified and made the case: if you vote yes, your vote counts as yes. If you skip the question, you skip the question. The bill has bipartisan sponsors. Delegate Hornberger, a Cecil County Republican, and Delegate Stewart, a Montgomery County Democrat.
Wednesday: Rallies and Hearings
Wednesday morning started with rallies in Annapolis against data centers and for the right to strike. Then the hearings.
HB 1492: Public Employee Strike Rights. Maryland teachers can lose their credentials for participating in a labor action. This bill would change that. We were at the rally in the morning and in the room supporting workers for the hearing.
HB 1205: Education Support Professionals Wage. A $25 minimum for the 40,000 school support professionals who keep Maryland schools running. Eighty percent have needed a second job to stay in the role.
HB 1382: Anti-BDS Procurement Prohibition. Governor Hogan enacted the anti-BDS executive order. Governor Moore maintained it. The legislature never passed it. This bill would repeal it. I testified orally and in writing.
See All of our testimony from this session
Thursday: Education Platform and the Livestream
We released our education platform at gogreen2026.com/education. This has been months in the making, drawing on our experience in schools, conversations with educators and advocates, and the Green Party platform.
Thursday night we covered all of it on the livestream.
We opened with legislative theory: how do radicals actually use the legislative process? Two modes, learned partly from Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle. Jumping onto stalled bills to push them across the finish line. Introducing proposals that wouldn't exist without a radical presence.
The education week in review covered the $25 wage floor, right to strike, and DREAM Act update. The Palestine segment covered the anti-genocide resolution, BDS repeal, and next week's pension divestment hearing. We did a deep dive on the education platform: multilingual schools, public banks for school construction, student governance, and why the Blueprint is necessary but not sufficient.
We also covered SB 323 and auto-charging youth as adults, made our $10,000 fundraising pitch for the spring, and answered a question from Teena in Upper Marlboro about AI data centers and ICE.
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. Learn more at Gogreen2026.Com