Commentary

Political tides have shifted drastically over the past 10 years in Maryland politics. One of the major shifts has been the increased viability of progressive and more left-leaning policies. This shift is part of a national trend and is often tied to this notion of “wokeness.” Woke has become a caricature of aspects of leftist (mostly social media) discourse used to smear those of us who are advocating more radical politics. What has emerged is what I am calling the woke straw man argument.

Yet again, Marylanders find themselves amid a winter of spiking COVID-19, influenza and RSV cases and scarce hospital beds — all while employees face mounting pressures to return to the office. It’s a national problem, but without federal safeguards, workplace protections are drastically uneven from state to state. Many Maryland workers have had no protection against retaliation for seeking to avoid COVID exposure, or exposure to other respiratory illnesses, caring for sick children or family members or raising concerns about workplace COVID safety. With a new governor and legislative session kicking off next week, our state has an opportunity to right this wrong.

As we ready ourselves for the 2023 legislative session in Maryland, a new dawn is truly on the horizon. With the election of Wes Moore as our incoming governor and the turnover of so many executive office and committee leadership positions, we can expect a legislative session chock full of change. But with change comes opportunity. Gov.-elect Moore ran a campaign based on the premise to “leave no one behind.” At the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, we couldn’t agree more that no matter where you start in life, you deserve an equal opportunity to succeed. Every Marylander deserves access to a job that allows them to support their family and build wealth.

It’s hard to swallow, but the rising cost of your breakfast is a taste you will be forced to acquire. Egg prices are up, along with bacon, because of climate-influenced animal disease and a growing world population that demands more protein. One of the world’s largest producers of liquid eggs — already cracked and sold mostly in bulk to restaurants and bakeries — is practically in my backyard. Called Rembrandt Foods, the plant has been shut down since last spring over the bird flu. It’s the company’s second shutdown in seven years. Five million laying hens were destroyed. More than 200 workers, mainly immigrant, were laid off. There is no word on when the huge henhouse will cluck again.

I have met hundreds of men who spent many years in prison — decades, some of them — and who eventually came home with the hope of restarting their lives by avoiding their old neighborhoods, old associates, old habits and traps. Many failed and ended up back inside. But others succeeded, quietly moving into jobs, reconnecting with family and living honorably the remainder of their days. Some came out of prison with an ambition — not always acted on — to do good, using their stories as cautionary tales for boys and young men. That’s where we find Warren Boardley, trying to do for Baltimore kids what someone tried to do for him in a previous life.

Walking into Maryland’s State House is stepping out of time. The brick Georgian-style building, trimmed with marble and topped with a wooden dome, is the oldest continuously operating legislative building in the nation. The tiny elevator you ride up to the second floor seems like it’s probably the oldest elevator in Maryland. The window panes are all wavy and distorted in the way 18th century glass always is.

Americans can breathe a sigh of relief: The government is not coming for our gas stoves. There was a moment, a couple days ago, when it seemed as though they might. In an interview with Bloomberg, Richard Trumka Jr., a commissioner at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, hinted that the days of cooking over an open flame might be numbered because it pollutes the air inside your house.