CPA News Releases, Advisories, and Editorials

Legislative Backlash in Maryland Underscores Progressive Trend Across the States

Progressives are having their most successful year in recent memory

Washington, D.C. – Only 30 miles separate the U.S. Capitol from the Maryland State House. But politically, they are worlds apart.

Democratic leaders of the Maryland General Assembly have marched a parade of progressive bills to the Republican Governor’s desk, daring him to wield his veto.

Over the past few weeks, the Maryland legislature approved a first-in-the-nation tax on large employers that provide inadequate health insurance to employees, a one dollar increase in the minimum wage, a registry allowing same-sex couples to make health decisions for their partners, a hate crimes statute covering sexual orientation, and a prescription discount plan opposed by the drug manufacturers.

If Governor Robert Ehrlich vetoes any of these, the legislature will likely override. In fact, the General Assembly has already overridden gubernatorial vetoes of bills removing Maryland from the Central American Free Trade Agreement, establishing an equal pay commission, and eliminating a special tax loophole that enriched HMOs.

Tim McFeeley, Executive Director of the Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA), noted that Maryland’s experience is not unique.

“With Congress firmly in conservative hands, state legislators are now at the vanguard of the progressive movement,” said McFeeley, whose organization promotes progressive policy across the states. “Legislators are proposingﾗand enactingﾗour nationﾒs most far-reaching, proactive policy solutions.”

According to CPA, progressives in the states are having their most successful year in recent memory. Connecticut became only the second state to approve civil unions for same-sex couples. New Jersey raised its minimum wage, increasing to 16 the number of states setting a minimum wage above the federal rate of $5.15. New Jersey also became the third state to legalize same-sex domestic partnerships, the seventh state to require hospitals to offer emergency contraception to rape victims, and the third state to set energy efficiency standards for common electrical products.

New Mexico became the fifth state to require electronic recording of police interrogations, and it is the ninth state to guarantee in-state tuition to undocumented immigrant students. Illinois enacted a law providing unemployment insurance to workers locked out of their jobs because of a labor dispute, and both Illinois and Maine approved laws prohibiting discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Progressives are even winning battles in “red” states. This year, Georgia and Montana passed smoke-free workplace bills, Colorado and Montana improved unemployment insurance benefits for domestic violence survivors, Kansas banned racial profiling, and Nebraska restored voting rights to ex-felons.

“It is a role-reversal for state legislators. Progressives are advocating a form of ‘states rights’ as a backlash against the right-wing federal agenda,” explained McFeeley. “They have taken a page from the right’s playbook: pushing progressive policies up from the states into the national political arena.”

While this trend appears to conflict with the national mood, it is actually consistent with the results of the 2004 election where voters favored Republicans at the federal level but preferred Democrats in the states.

Prior to the election, Republican state legislators outnumbered Democrats by 64 seats nationwide; afterward Democrats held a nationwide majority of four seats. Control of legislatures shifted even more significantly. Before November, Republicans controlled both houses of 21 legislatures, Democrats controlled 17, and 11 were split between the parties. Now Republicans and Democrats each control 20 legislatures, and nine are split. (Nebraska’s unicameral legislature is nonpartisan.)

“Our national and state governments are moving in opposite directions,” McFeeley declared. “Playing their role as ‘laboratories of democracy,’ states are proving that progressive policies are both feasible and popular, offering powerful ammunition for future national political battles. For progressives, hope is in the states.”

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The Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is the nation’s only nonpartisan organization working to strengthen the capacity of state legislators to lead and achieve progressive change. CPA empowers state legislators by providing values-based leadership development programs, distributing user-friendly policy tools on a wide variety of issues, and building a strong, coordinated network of legislators across the states.

For more information, contact CPA Policy Director Bernie Horn at 202-956-5135, email [email protected], or visit www.stateaction.org.