AIM Member Newsletter: Jan/ Feb 2025
As national changes are impacting our local communities, we at AIM are in solidarity with federal employees, immigrants, and others who are being targeted. We continue to strategically act together at the state and county level to create change for a more just society.
Read more about our recent campaigns and victories:
Annapolis Advocacy Days
Statewide Campaign Next Steps
Climate Victory: Building Energy Performance Standards
Standing with Immigrants
Black History Month Message
Annapolis Advocacy Days
On January 30 and February 17, a total of 207 of us from the Maryland Just Power Alliance (AIM, ACT, and PATH) came to Annapolis to participate in our democracy!
We met in small groups with 49 of our state legislators and staff to advocate for our policy priorities:
The Housing for Jobs Act,
Good Cause Eviction,
The ReNEW Act,
Pre-K expansion, and
Protections for immigrants.
Together, we did what we do best: sharing our personal stories with our legislators and building relationships. We bring unique power to the table because we are everyday people in our legislators' districts who can show up and speak about the issues we care about.
Great work, everyone!
2. Statewide Campaign Next Steps
The Maryland legislative session is moving at a rapid pace, and there are still many opportunities to advocate for the bills we're supporting, for a more just and livable Maryland:
Hearing Turnout:
For some of the bills we support, especially the Housing for Jobs Act, we are showing up at the hearings in Annapolis to demonstrate our support and gain recognition from the Governor and legislators. Sign up here to come to the Housing for Jobs hearing on Tuesday, March 4.
Action Alerts:
Another effective way to support our priorities is by emailing your Senators and Delegates. We are sending out email alerts 1 or 2 days before each bill hearing to everyone who lives in the district of a committee member to send them a message. Check your email for these action alerts.
Issue Action Team Meetings:
We are holding a series of meetings for each of the policies we’re supporting (housing supply, renters’ rights, climate, pre-K, and immigrant protections) to discuss political strategy. Stay tuned for email invitations to these meetings. To get on our email lists, email Katie Wenger: katiew@actioninmontgomery.org.
Stay Informed:
Keep up-to-date with upcoming events, fact sheets, and more on our statewide campaign page.
3. Climate Victory: Building Energy Performance Standards
On Tuesday, February 25, the Montgomery County Council unanimously voted to pass the new Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) law!
This new law will reduce climate pollution and improve our communities' health. It will allow implementation of the 2022 BEPS energy efficiency law, which requires large buildings to become more energy efficient, relying more on electricity and less on gas.
We've been advocating for BEPS on the county and state level--our NO2 testing in apartments has shown how dangerous natural gas is for health and safety. You can read more about our NO2 testing and climate justice campaigns here.
Congratulations to AIM and our partners at the Montgomery County Climate Coalition's BEPS Working Group for their role in passing this legislation!
4. Standing with Immigrants
In these challenging times, we stand together in solidarity with our immigrant communities. We have put together a list of resources for protecting our communities: Resources for Immigrants
We are also supporting 2 bills at the state level to protect immigrants’ rights: the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act and the Maryland Data Privacy Act. You can read more about these bills here.
5. Black History Month Message
We’d like to share an excerpt from the Co-Chair of AIM and pastor of Colesville United Methodist Church Rev. Dr. Armstrong’s sermon for Black History Month at Harvest Intercontinental Church on February 23, 2025, below.
In remembering the struggles of our ancestors, we are reminded to lament—completely and honestly to the Creator—and then to raise ourselves from our knees—locked in arms—to build the city we need to build. We encourage you to hear the full message here.
"[We must not] forget some of the horrors of our collective pasts so as to be prepared not to allow them to be repeated. Lamenting allows us to get things off our chest so we can get moving to cure what we are lamenting about... When one may look at the present state of affairs in America, which amounts to a hostile takeover of long prescribed values and freedoms and see them eroding before one’s eyes, one may be lead to believe hope has vanished and the future looks fuzzy, but there is hope and a future even in the midst of a bad situation...
Some of our ancestors learned to sing in desperate circumstances...
I suggest you let your life’s song be a call to action... Register folks to vote, help get people over their reticence to vote and get folks out to the polls to vote. Get involved by educating yourselves about the issues, where candidates stand on the issues, advocate for the issues, write your politicians about your concerns about the issues, go testify about your concerns about the issues."
Thank you for being part of AIM! Please consider making a donation to support our work.
Donate at: actioninmontgomery.org/donate
