For Immediate Release:January 26, 2015Contacts: Brian Bittner, Chair, 443-449-4159The Maryland Green Party supports Senate Bill 29 and calls for a state-wide ban on the practice of hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") for natural gas. The Green Party supports the idea - as Senate Bill 29 states - that "a person may not engage in the hydraulic fracturing of a well for the exploration or production of natural gas in the state" of Maryland.  Fracking involves the introduction of toxic chemicals into underwater rock formations. The spread of these chemicals cannot be reliably predicted, potentially poisoning groundwater for communities or entire towns. The Green Party calls for a rapid reduction in energy consumption through energy efficiency and a decisive transition away from fossil and nuclear power toward cleaner, renewable, local energy sources.More Information:Maryland Green Partyhttp://www.mdgreens.org410-691-3204

For Immediate Release:January 22, 2015Contacts: Brian Bittner, Chair, 443-449-4159 The Maryland Green Party supports House Bill 4 - to immediately raise the state's minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. The state's minimum wage would otherwise increase in phases, not reaching $10.10 until July 1, 2018. The Green Party supports a $10.10 minimum wage as a necessary but insufficient starting point for fair pay of all Maryland workers. The party supports an immediate additional minimum wage increase to $15 per hour and an ultimate establishment of a state-wide living wage, which may be higher than $15 per hour in some areas. The Green Party's platform calls for "Social Security for All" (a universal basic income or basic income guarantee) granted to all citizens regardless of health or employment. Such a program would allow all individuals to afford basic food and shelter. The Green Party's key value of economic justice states that it is essential to create a vibrant and sustainable economic system that can create jobs and provide a decent standard of living for all people while maintaining a healthy ecological balance. The party believes that a successful economic system will offer meaningful work with dignity, while paying a "living wage" which reflects the real value of a person's work.More Information:Maryland Green Partyhttp://www.mdgreens.org410-691-3204

For Immediate Release:January 17, 2015 The Maryland Green Party has once again retained its status as a political party under Maryland law and is once again qualified to nominate candidates for all offices statewide. The party's efforts in 2014 maintained its status for the 2016 and 2018 elections. Under state law, the party was required for the fifth time in its history to submit 10,000 valid signatures of Maryland voters supporting the existence of the Green Party. The party had successfully submitted petitions in 2000, 2002, 2006 and 2010. On December 30, 2014, the party submitted 17,828 signatures to officials at the State Board of Elections in Annapolis. On Friday afternoon state election officials posted public notice that at least 10,000 of those signatures were verified. The Maryland Green Party is the twenty-first state affiliate of the Green Party to retain its political party status in anticipation of the 2016 national election. The party's success in maintaining ballot access nationally has improved significantly since the 2012 national election, when 14 Green Party affiliates were ballot-qualified at the end of 2010. The Maryland Green Party intends to participate in the nomination of a Green Party candidate for President of the United States, as well as nominating candidates for federal, state and local office in 2016 and 2018. In 2012, the Green Party of the United States nominated Jill Stein as its Presidential candidate in Baltimore at its national convention organized by Maryland Greens.  

According to Ballot Access News, the Green Party is guaranteed ballot access for its 2016 Presidential nominee in 19 states. This is a 25% increase from results in 2010, when the Green Party was guaranteed ballot access in 14 states as a result of that year's election.In comparison to the party's election results from 2010, the Green Party picked up ballot access for the 2016 election in Delaware, Hawaii, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wisconsin. The Green Party did not lose ballot access in any state relative to 2010's results.This total, of course, is incomplete. Our ballot status will not be finalized until after we complete and submit our petition by December 31st of this year. We have surpassed our goal of 15,000 signatures and are preparing to submit our petition to the State Board of Elections for verification. It is still possible that enough signatures will be disqualified to invalidate our petition. We need your help to continue collecting signatures and be ready to put petitioners on the street immediately if our petition should be invalidated sometime next month. Please contribute today to help support our petition drive! We rely on your contributions - not outside groups funded with secret money - to do all our work. Thank you for your continued support!     

From the Green Party of the United States: For highlights from our 2014 campaigns, click here.  We want to tell you some more about two major victories for local, grassroots politics over massive corporate investments in controlling our democracy.In Oregon, Measure 90 was defeated by a huge margin. The measure - which would have severely limited future choices at the ballot box by switching Oregon to a "Top Two" system - was backed by billionaires Michael Bloomberg and John Arnold.Greens and other grassroots organizations rallied and overcame this attempt to control democracy. Pacific Green Party spokesperson Blair Bobier noted that "now that 'Top Two' has been rejected overwhelmingly for the second time, despite the millions of dollars behind it, we need to consider real changes to the election system, such as Instant Runoff Voting and public campaign financing."In Richmond, CA, former mayor and Green Party member Gayle McLaughlin was elected to the City Council after being forced to step down as mayor due to term limits. Her City Council bid was opposed by Chevron, which runs an oil refinery in Richmond and spent millions to keep McLaughlin and her opposition to the refinery off the council. She was able to overcome millions in corporate attack ads and win a seat on the council. Greens are leading the way against corporate influence in American elections. While the campaigns in Oregon and Richmond were successful, "Top Two" is still on the agenda in many states, and corporate spending on elections has never been higher. We need your support to take the fight against the 1% to the next level. We need to invest in staff, training for candidates, and support for building state parties. As we approach the 2016 election, we hope you will get involved with your state and local party, consider running for office, and continue to support the Green Party of the United States.