The 2023 legislative session starts today

Today, I am headed to Annapolis for the first day of the legislative session.

Like the first day of school, a new term for the legislative and executive branches is full of opportunities.

All Marylanders want a healthier, safer, more secure future. For the next 90 days Maryland PIRG will work to find common ground around common sense solutions that will help make that future a reality.

We have an ambitious set of priorities to do that, including:

• Smart Energy Solutions: By updating the state’s energy efficiency program and phasing out fluorescent light bulbs we can save money, reduce pollution, and help repower Maryland’s homes and buildings with 100% clean renewable energy.
• Stop Toxic PFAS: Toxic PFAS chemicals are often called ‘forever chemicals’ because they don’t break down in our bodies or our environment, and they have been linked to negative health impacts. We’re working to expand monitoring to keep PFAS off our land and out of our water.
• Don’t Trash Maryland: By requiring producers to bear financial responsibility for recycling the products they create we can reduce waste and save taxpayer money. We’re working to reduce plastic waste, improve recycling, and put the state on a path to zero waste.
• Strengthening our Democracy:  We’re backing policies to improve our elections systems and strengthen our campaign finance laws to promote transparency and participation and reduce the role of wealthy and corporate donors in Maryland elections.
• We’ll also continue our work to protect consumers and enact sound budget and tax policies.

You can see our full agenda and priorities here.

We have an incredible opportunity to make progress on our issues this session and term, but it’s only possible when we combine advocacy from our staff in Annapolis, strong partnerships and grassroots action across the state.

We’ll keep you posted on our progress and how you can help.