ACT NOW: Protect overburdened communities in Maryland! Deadline = Friday Feb 21st @6pm

Residents from across Maryland, including leadership from SBCLT and the Mid Atlantic Justice Coalition, have helped develop the CHERISH our Communities Act to add protections for communities overburdened by pollution. Maryland has the chance to pass this groundbreaking cumulative impacts policy and we ask that you all learn about and engage with this opportunity (the deadline to sign up is tomorrow, Friday Feb 21st at 6pm).

The Senate hearing for the CHERISH Act is coming up on Tuesday Feb 25th at 1pm both online and in person at the Miller Senate Office Building, located at 11 Bladen St., Annapolis, MD. Here’s a short guide on how to get involved and make your voice heard. The process is a bit cumbersome – but given the community concerns at the core of this effort – it’s worth pushing through.

Senate Committee hearing for SB978: Tuesday 2/25

Window for uploading testimony: Friday 2/21, 8AM-6PM

To submit testimony, create an account on MyMGA (here are video tutorials), before the window to upload the testimony. If you have an account from a previous session you may be required to reset your password for the 2025 session. Then, during the window to upload testimony, follow the steps below.

Steps for uploading written testimony:

1 While logged into your MyMGA account during the windows for uploading testimony (Friday 2/21, 8AM-6PM), go to Witness Signup.

2 Search for the bill #, SB0978.

3 Click on the box to the left of SB0978.

4 If you are submitting testimony on behalf of an organization, type that organization’s name in the first text box.

5 Under “Testimony,” select:

1 “Written” if you are submitting written testimony, but not speaking live.

2 “None” if you want to register that you support the bill, but don’t have time to upload anything. (Your name will show up on a list given to the legislators – this is still worth doing!)

3 “Oral” if you are speaking live at the hearing, but not uploading written testimony. You will have to choose at this point whether you are testifying in person in Annapolis or virtually, and you cannot change it later, so be sure!

4 “Both” if you are both uploading written testimony and speaking at the hearing. You will have to choose at this point whether you are testifying in person in Annapolis or virtually, and you cannot change it later, so be sure!

6 If you selected “Written” or “Both,” click “Upload Testimony” on the right and follow the instructions to upload your testimony. (It must be saved as a PDF.)

7 Important: navigate back to the top of the page and click “Save.”

8 To confirm that it went through, click on “Signed Up Items.” A record of what you selected and saved will show up there.