Statewide Victories

We did it! After several months of organizing, we achieved 3 major victories in the Maryland state legislature this year!

Thank you for all your hard work these past few months to make these victories happen. Every time you showed up to an advocacy day in Annapolis, emailed or called your legislators, and spread the word to your communities, it made a big difference.

This was our first year doing a significant statewide campaign across AIM, PATH, and ACT, with our partners, and together we exercised strong political power to make our communities more equitable and livable. Thank you also to all of the wonderful non-profit partners we worked with to effectively advocate for these climate and housing bills.

The session ended on Monday, April 8th, and the state legislature passed these 3 bills with our support:

1. EmPOWER Reform (HB864)
   This bill will make sure that most of the $350-million-per-year EmPOWER fund goes towards helping households and low-income apartment buildings make energy efficiency and electrification upgrades. It will help protect our families’ health and the climate by reducing indoor air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Read more here.

2. Housing Expansion & Affordability Act (HB538)
   This bill will allow and incentivize the construction of affordable housing within 0.75 miles of transit stations, on state land, and on all land owned by congregations or nonprofits.

3. Renters’ Rights & Housing Stabilization Act (HB693)
   This bill will raise the fee for landlords to file an eviction, which will provide renters some protection from being evicted for minor causes like overdue rent. This bill was amended to allow landlords to deduct the fee from the renters’ security deposit, but renters will not have to directly pay the fee. The revenue gained from the fee will go towards the rental voucher program and legal aid for tenants. The bill will also limit landlords from charging more than one month’s rent as a security deposit when they move into a new home.

The fourth bill we supported, Good Cause (formerly “Just Cause) Eviction, did not pass, but it made it further than it ever has before, and we can consider working on it again next year. 

Governor Moore is expected to sign the 3 bills into law in the next few weeks. If you would like to come to one of the bill signing events, please let me know.

Please join us to celebrate, evaluate and talk about next steps as a statewide collective: 

Statewide Action Team Meeting 

Thursday, May 9th

7:00-8:30 pm on Zoom. 

Thank you again for all your work!

Sincerely,

Cynthia Marshall