The Policy Lowdown is MDCEP’s podcast focusing on the policy choices that matter most to Maryland families and communities. In our first season, we’re bringing together experts from MDCEP staff and other community leaders for engaging conversations about how the critical choices policymakers make through our state budget affect our daily lives.
The first episode drops January 20 on all major podcast distributors. Subscribe now: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | iHeartRadio
Season 2
Episode 1 – ‘A New Process is Shaping Spending Decisions in Baltimore’
Guests: Baltimore City Comptroller Bill Henry, MDCEP Senior Research Assistant Musaab Ibrahim
Episode Resources:
Episode 2 – ‘KIDS COUNT: How Children and Families Are Doing in Maryland’
Guest: Nonso Umunna, MDCEP KIDS COUNT Director
Episode Resources:
Episode 3 – ‘Removing Barriers to a Healthier Maryland’
Guests: Dr. Michelle LaRue, health and human services director for CASA, and Maryland Center on Economic Policy State Policy Fellow Jasmin Aramburu
Episode Resources:
- Report: Supporting a Healthier Maryland Through Healthcare Expansion for Immigrant Communities
- MDCEP 10th anniversary event
Episode 4 – ‘ Preventing Evictions in Maryland’
Guests: Matt Hill, an attorney and team lead with the Public Justice Center’s Human Right to Housing project, and MDCEP Policy Analyst Taneeka Richardson
Episode Resources:
Episode 5 – ‘How legal cannabis is changing Maryland communities’
Guests: Dayvon Love, director of public policy for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle and Justin Strekal, partner with Useful Strategies.
Episode 6 – ‘2024 Legislative Session Preview (Part 1)’
Guests: MDCEP’s policy team – Jasmin Aramburu, Musaab Ibrahim, Christopher Meyer, Nonso Umunna, and Taneeka Richardson
Episode 7 – ‘2024 Legislative Session Preview (Part 2)’
Guest: Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson
Episode 8 – ‘A Fair Share for Maryland’
Guests: Denise Gilmore, legislative director at AFSCME Council 3, and Shamoyia Gardiner executive director of Strong Schools Maryland
Episode Resources:
- Learn more about the Fair Share Maryland plan and how you can support it
- MDCEP analysis: A Roadmap for Tax Justice
Episode 9 – ‘Building Community Wealth in Baltimore’
Guests: Lewis Gilliam, a hospital employee and member of 1199SEIU; Christa Daring, Executive Director of BRED; Meleny Thomas, Executive Director of the South Baltimore Community Land Trust
Episode Resources:
- Learn more about the With Us, For Us campaign and how you can get involved
Episode 10 – ‘An update on Fair Share Maryland’
Guest: Lisa Klingenmaier, Director of Maryland Rise.
Episode resources:
- Learn more about the Fair Share Maryland coalition and get involved
Episode 11 – ‘Unpacking the legislative session’
Guests:
- Jasmin Aramburu, MDCEP State Policy Fellow
- Musaab Ibrahim, MDCEP Senior Research Assistant
- Christopher Meyer, MDCEP Research Analyst
- Taneeka Richardson, MDCEP Policy Analyst
- Nonso Umunna, MDCEP KIDS COUNT Director
Episode resources:
- Budget Deal Leaves Education Funding, State Services Deeply Uncertain
- Building Up Maryland’s Safety Net After Modest Changes This Year
Season 1
Episode 1 – ‘A Budget is A Moral Document’
Guest: MDCEP Founder, President and CEO Benjamin Orr
Episode resources:
- Sign up for emails from the Maryland Fair Funding Coalition
- Learn more about how policymakers could make the state budget process more accessible and transparent
Episode 2 – ‘A Great Education for Every Child’
Guests: Strong Schools Maryland Executive Director Shamoyia Gardiner; MDCEP Research Analyst Christopher Meyer
Episode resources:
- Sign up for the Tax Credits for Maryland Families coalition email list to support efforts to protect and expand Maryland’s working family tax credits
- Get email updates on Blueprint for Maryland’s Future implementation and learn how to get involved in education advocacy in your community: Strong Schools Maryland
Episode 3: Homes Are the Foundation of Opportunity
Guests: Claudia Wilson Randall, Executive Director of the Community Development Network of Maryland; Taneeka Richardson, MDCEP Policy Analyst
Episode Resources:
- Renters United Maryland coalition
- Baltimore Renters United
- Community Development Network of Maryland
- National Low Income Housing Coalition
- MDCEP Community-Powered Policy Agenda
Episode 4: Policies That Leave No Children Behind (Part 1)
Guests: Rev. Kobi Little, president of the Baltimore City NAACP chapter, and Nonso Umunna, KIDS COUNT director for the Maryland Center on Economic Policy.
Episode Resources:
Episode 5: Policies That Leave No Children Behind (Part 2)
Guests: Laura Weeldreyer, Executive Director of Maryland Family Network, and Nonso Umunna, KIDS COUNT director for the Maryland Center on Economic Policy.
Bonus: A Roadmap for Tax Justice
Guests: Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins, Vice Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee and Chair of the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus; Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr, Chair of the Early Childhood Education Subcommittee and Chair of the Montgomery County House Delegation; Christopher Meyer, Research Analyst at the Maryland Center on Economic Policy
Episode Resources: