Commentary

Everyone in Maryland who tuned into TV or radio, read newspapers or been on the internet recently likely saw the barrage of advertisements against the digital revenue tax. Regardless of the blitz, the General Assembly overrode Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto to pass the first in the nation tax targeting digital media last week. The major theme of the ads was that the new tax would cripple business recovery in Maryland, especially small business. How during a pandemic could the state even consider imposing a new tax on digital advertising?

Every February, this newspaper and others like it around the United States make an extra effort to delve into the history of Black Americans. It hasn’t always been this way. The tradition of taking time to recognize the contributions of Black Americans to our country began in 1926, the brainchild of historian and author Carter Woodson. He and others settled on February because of two significant birthdays that month, that of Abraham Lincoln and the date chosen by Frederick Douglass to celebrate his birth — born into slavery on the Eastern Shore — because he did not know the actual date.

The pandemic undoubtedly wreaked some form of havoc on just about everyone’s life. But statistics are piling up showing that it has hurt women more, particularly those who are African American and Latinx, eroding many of the gains in the workforce that had been made in recent years. Around 2.5 million women dropped out of the labor force or lost their jobs during the pandemic, compared to 1.8 million men, according to Labor Department data released earlier this month. The situation is so dire that Vice President Kamala Harris called it a “mass exodus” and “national emergency” in a recent op-ed in The Washington Post.

Do you remember the magic of a snow day? For many kids, few things are more exciting than waking up to see your school on the “closed” list. For parents, the excuse to stay home and spend time with family is often a welcome respite from the daily grind, even when the driveway needs to be shoveled. We need to find a way to preserve the magic that happens when everything closes because the outside is covered in a blanket of white. Due to the rise of distance learning and remote work, snow days may soon become a distant memory.

If Maryland is to achieve its climate goals, we need to source more renewable energy, reduce our energy usage and improve our waste management. One of the easiest and most effective strategies to reduce our waste stream is by removing organics from the system. In other words: support more composting. More and more residents are turning to recycling their fruits, vegetables and other food because these valuable resources should not be disposed of in landfills and in incinerators, but instead should be turned into soil building compost or diverted to food pantries for food insecure residents.