Attorneys General Reach Settlements with Four Fast Food Chains to End Use of No-Poach Agreements

Multistate Settlement Agreements with Dunkin’, Arby’s, Five Guys, and Little Caesars Drop Provisions that Limit Recruitment and Hiring of Fast Food Workers

BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today announced multistate settlements with four national fast food franchisors, ending their use of “no-poach” agreements. Those agreements restrict the right of fast food workers to move from one franchise to another within the same restaurant chain.

The agreements with Dunkin’, Arby’s, Five Guys, and Little Caesars settle an investigation announced by the states in July 2018 over concerns that no-poach agreements hurt low-wage workers by limiting their ability to secure better paying jobs.

“No-poach agreements limit a worker’s job opportunities and earning potential,” said Attorney General Frosh. “These settlements mean fairer hiring practices for thousands of workers in Maryland and across the country.”

Read more in the full press release:http://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/press/2019/031219.pdf

Senators Joni Ernst and Mike Lee unveil new paid family leave proposal: "It's time to catch up with other countries"

Republican Senators Joni Ernst and Mike Lee are unveiling a new proposal for paid family leave. The Cradle Act would allow new parents to tap into their Social Security savings, and later delay their retirement, to take paid time off after the birth or adoption of a child.

"I think most people would look at this as an opportunity that they might not otherwise have, an opportunity to benefit from payments that they've been making already for years," Lee told CBS News chief congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes.

"Why is the U.S. so far behind the rest of the industrialized world on this issue?" Cordes asked.

"I think that is a really great question and that's why we have decided now is the time to step up and really do something about this," Ernst said. "We think it's time to catch up with other countries."

More

BOOST Scholarship Program Accepting Applications for 2019-20 School Year

Financial Aid Program to Attend Nonpublic Schools 

Now in Fourth Year

BALTIMORE (March 12, 2019) – The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) today announced the opening of the application process for a scholarship program designed to help income eligible students attend nonpublic schools.

The Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today (BOOST) Program, entering its fourth year, will provide scholarships for students who are eligible for the free- or reduced-price lunch program. The BOOST program was the result of a bipartisan compromise during the 2016 session of the Maryland General Assembly, and received widespread support from legislators in both parties.

“Our administration is committed to ensuring that every single child in Maryland has the chance to get a world-class education, regardless of what neighborhood they happen to grow up in,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “This innovative program, forged through bipartisan cooperation with the support of the legislature, offers expanded options and opportunities for Maryland families and students.”

More than 3,100 students were awarded BOOST Scholarships for the 2018-19 school year. Scholarships ranged from $1,400 to $4,400 each, with the highest award amount going to students who had qualified for the Free Meal Program and attended a public school the previous year.

BOOST provided $6.5 million for scholarships during the 2018-19 school year. Governor Hogan has proposed increasing the budget to $10 million for the 2019-20 school year, but the General Assembly at this time has not completed work on the budget.

The BOOST program is available for students either already attending or hoping to attend a nonpublic participating school. Students must be enrolled in – or have applied to – a potential participating school before completing the BOOST application.

All applications will be reviewed by MSDE to ensure completion and income eligibility. MSDE will compile a list of applicants that ranks eligible students by family income expressed as a percent of the most recent federal poverty levels. MSDE will then provide a count of eligible students by category to the BOOST Advisory Board. The categories reflect whether the student attended a public or private school the prior year and whether the student qualifies for Free Meals or Reduced Meals. Also, the BOOST law governing the 2019-20 awards specifies that some funds are reserved for students with disabilities.

The BOOST Advisory Board will determine how the scholarship funds are allocated among the categories.

Students who received a BOOST Scholarship in the 2018-2019 school year and who still meet the eligibility criteria must complete an application to receive an award in 2019-2020.

The application deadline is midnight on April 17 for the 2019-20 school year. The electronic application and a list of potential participating schools is available at

http://marylandpublicschools.org/Pages/boost/index.aspx

Trump: We’re Thinking ‘Very Seriously’ About Designating Mexican Cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations

President Donald Trump told Breitbart News on Monday that his administration is thinking “very seriously” about labeling violent Mexican drug cartels, or factions of these cartels, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).

Asked by Deputy Political Editor Amanda House during a wide-ranging, exclusive Oval Office interview with Breitbart News whether his administration is considering designating factions of cartels, or cartels as a whole, as terrorist groups, Trump replied that he is.

“We are. We are,” Trump said. “We’re thinking about doing it very seriously. In fact, we’ve been thinking about it for a long time.”

“It’s psychological, but it’s also economic,” Trump continued. “As terrorists — as terrorist organizations, the answer is yes. They are.”

More

Berlin Residents Hammer Council On Major Tax, Fee Increase Plan; Special Budget Meeting Planned For March 26

BERLIN – Calls for the town to cut expenses and sell Berlin Falls Park highlighted a town council meeting Monday.

Dozens of Berlin residents attended a Berlin Town Council meeting this week, primarily to voice their concerns about the potential 34-percent tax increase being discussed by elected officials.

“Berlin Falls Park is a boondoggle,” resident Jim Meckley said. “It is dragging this place down.”

Mayor Gee Williams told those in attendance this week that the budget process had only just begun. Expenses had been greater than expected in recent years, he explained, and the town had been forced to use its reserves to supplement utility operations. He pointed out that 57 percent of the town’s costs related to public safety and capital expenses.

More

LEE R. BRABOY CONVICTED OF FIRST DEGREE MURDER

"I'm Giving It A Shot" - Biden Reportedly Confirms Run For Presidency

In perhaps the least-surprising political headline of the day, The Hill reports that a senior Democratic lawmaker told them today that former Vice President Joe Biden will run for president in 2020.
 
“I’m giving it a shot,” Biden said matter-of-factly during a phone call with a House Democratic lawmaker within the past week - a conversation the congressman recounted to The Hill and interpreted as a sure sign that Biden will run in 2020.

However, Biden spokesman Bill Russo refuted the idea that the former vice president is absolutely running:

“He has not made a final decision. No change.”

But, as The Hill notes, at an event with firefighters Tuesday morning, Biden teased a 2020 presidential run as the crowd chanted, “Run, Joe, run!”

More 

Southern Poverty Surpasses Half Billion in Assets; $121 Million Now Offshore

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a far-left nonprofit known for its "hate group" designations, has surpassed a half billion dollars in total assets and now has $121 million parked offshore, according to the group's most recent financial statements.

The SPLC, which is based in Montgomery, Ala., has not publicly posted its most recent financial statements on its website. However, the organization applied for renewal in the state of California days ago and submitted a number of documents pertaining to its financial standing including its most recent audited statement and tax forms for calendar year 2018, which covers Nov. 1, 2017 to Oct. 31, 2018.

According to the filings submitted to California's Office of Attorney General, the group reported total assets of $518 million from November 2017 to the Oct. 31, 2018, an increase of $41 million from the $477 million in total assets it reported on its previous year's tax forms.

More

Study: Migrants Using Nearly 2X the Welfare of Native-Born Americans

Households headed by foreign non-citizens living in the United States, including legal and illegal aliens, use nearly twice as much welfare as native-born Americans, research finds.

In recently released research by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), analysts discovered that about 63 percent of non-citizen households, those who live legally and illegally in the U.S., use some form of public welfare while only about 35 percent of native-born American households are on welfare.

Likewise, roughly 50 percent of naturalized citizens — those who legally immigrated to the country and became citizens — use taxpayer-funded welfare, as well as about 55 percent of all households headed by legal immigrants, those who are naturalized citizens and those who are not yet citizens.

More

Police: School Bus Aide Yanked MAGA Hat Off Student’s Head

MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. (CBS Local) — A Florida bus aide who allegedly yelled at a middle school student to take off a Trump hat and then grabbed it off of his head, may face criminal charges, according to officials.

Surveillance video shows a bus aide yelling at Gunnar Johansson, 14, over his “TRUMP: Make America Great Again” hat and then grabbing the hat off of his head.

“Boy, if you don’t that hat off this bus. Take it off,” the unidentified bus aide is heard to say on the surveillance video.

The incident happened last week as a Martin County school bus was en route to Hidden Oaks Middle School in Palm City.

More

Bill would give some Md. students free eyeglasses and exams

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland — Students in Maryland public schools who fail required vision screenings and do not receive recommended services would be provided free eye examinations and eyeglasses by a new Maryland Department of Health program, under legislation expected to be heard by a Senate committee on Wednesday.

Senate bill 915 and House bill 1242 would create the Vision for Maryland Program, which would coordinate with Johns Hopkins University, local boards of education and local health departments to carry out the eye exams for students and give glasses to them if necessary.

The Ways and Means committee had a hearing for the House bill on March 7, but it has yet to receive a committee vote.

More

Congressman Andy Harris Announces Wicomico County, Harford County, and Queen Anne’s County Town Halls

WASHINGTON, DC: Congressman Andy Harris, M.D. (MD-01) will host brick-and-mortar town hall meetings in Wicomico County, Harford County, and Queen Anne’s County on Monday, March 18th, Tuesday, March 19th, and Wednesday, March 20th, respectively. All residents of Maryland’s First District are welcome to attend the town halls to ask questions and voice their concerns about issues under consideration in Congress.

Wicomico County Town Hall

Date: Monday, March 18th

Time: 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM

Location: Black Diamond Lodge

219 Fruitland Boulevard (Rt. 13), Fruitland, MD 21826

Harford County Town Hall

Date: Tuesday, March 19th

Time: 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM

Location: Joppa-Magnolia VFH

1403 Old Mountain Road South, Joppa, MD 21085

Queen Anne’s County Town Hall

Date: Wednesday, March 20th

Time: 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Location: Grasonville VFW

203 VFW Ave., Grasonville, MD 21638

For questions about the event, please contact Congressman Harris’ Washington, DC office at 202-225-5311. Media outlets interested in attending the event must RSVP by March 15th to Julia Nista at Julia.Nista@mail.house.gov.

Man Faces Drug Distribution, Assault, False Imprisonment Charges

WEST OCEAN CITY — The hits kept coming this week for a man already facing felony drug distribution and assault charges following a raid on a business he partially owns in December.

Last Dec. 18, allied local law enforcement agencies executed search and seizure warrants at a screen printing and promotional products company in West Ocean City that is owned in part by Matthew John Brown, 35, as well as his wife and mother in-law. As a result, Brown was later indicted by a Worcester County grand jury on multiple drug possession and distribution charges after the investigation revealed he was allegedly dealing marijuana, LSD and PCP out of the West Ocean City business after hours, unbeknownst to his family and business partners.

The Worcester County grand jury indicted Brown on four counts, the most severe of which is felony possession with intent to distribute LSD and PCP, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or a $15,000 fine. Brown also faces felony marijuana distribution charges, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and/or a $15,000 fine. Brown also faces two misdemeanor charges for possession of LSD, PCP and marijuana.

More

Md. lawmakers push prison immigration bill

A Maryland lawmaker says it’s time to require every state and local jail to hand over immigrants who are in the country illegally to federal officials.

Maryland Delegate Kathy Szeliga, a Republican whose district includes Harford and Baltimore counties, wants her colleagues to pass House Bill 817. She calls it a very simple bill.

“The bill simply says that, if asked, local law enforcement will turn a criminal alien over to Homeland Security,” Szeliga said.

Szeliga held a news conference in Annapolis with the family members of two men who were killed in a crash on I-270 in Dec. 2017. FBI agent Carlos Wolff was killed along with arson investigator Sander Cohen when a car driven by 28-year-old Roberto Garza Palacios, a Guatemalan immigrant in the country illegally, struck and killed them both.

Garza Palacios had previous criminal convictions in the county, and at one point, ICE asked officials with the Montgomery County jail to put a hold on him. That request was not honored.

More

House Democrats introduce bill to protect undocumented immigrants

WASHINGTON – In a rebuke to rollbacks issued by the Trump administration, House Democrats introduced the Dream and Promise Act Tuesday, which would afford protection to millions of undocumented residents.

The proposed bill, H.R.6, would provide a direct path to permanent residence to approximately 3.6 million immigrants brought into the United States as minors, also called DREAMers.

“The American people are overwhelmingly for this legislation,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Mechanicsville, said in a press briefing. “We hope that many of our Republican friends will join us.”

President Donald Trump announced in September 2017 that he was planning to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. The future of the program remains uncertain. While new applicants can no longer apply, existing recipients are allowed to renew their status as the issue is litigated in the courts.

More

Organ donation could be taught in Md. schools

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland — Several bills progressing in the Maryland General Assembly would provide support for living organ or tissue donors, and educate high school students about becoming a donor.

Sponsored by Sen. Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, D-Baltimore City and County, Senate bill 954 could require county boards of education to begin teaching students about organ donation in public schools starting in the 2020-2021 school year.

That bill, and an identical piece of legislation sponsored by Delegate Pam Queen, D-Montgomery, are intended to begin teaching students about organ donation at the age of 14, before they receive their driver’s licenses and decide whether they want to be a donor, Queen said.

This bill is intended to get more young people registered as organ donors to combat the long waiting list for organ donation, Queen said. The bill is also aimed to promote awareness of live organ donation, she said.

More 

Dick Cheney Criticizes Pence Face-to-Face on Foreign Policy. Trump Jr. Fires Back.

At a recent private retreat with the American Enterprise Institute, former Vice President Dick Cheney criticized Vice President Mike Pence face-to-face for a string of recent foreign policy decisions. In particular, Cheney shared his concerns about the troop withdrawal from Syria, and how Trump is treating our NATO allies. Cheney insisted that the Trump administration is causing our friends to lose confidence in us and even told Pence that their foreign policy is on par with Obama's, according to the Washington Post.

“I worry that the bottom line of that kind of an approach is we have an administration that looks a lot more like Barack Obama than Ronald Reagan,” he said.

That last charge is what got Donald Trump Jr. into the debate. He defended his dad's VP on Twitter Tuesday morning.

More

‘Jexodus’ May Pose Problems for Democrats

President Donald Trump’s claim that “the Democrats hate Jewish people” is giving a boost to what appears to be an embryonic movement encouraging Jews, traditionally a key Democrat voting bloc, to abandon the Democratic Party.

Axios reported the president made the comments to Republican donors March 8, based on statements by attendees. Trump also reportedly said he couldn’t grasp how any Jew could vote for a Democrat these days, given the party’s track record.

The news report didn’t mention if he referenced numerous comments by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a Muslim, that were widely perceived as anti-Semitic. Congressional Democrats refused to condemn Omar by name and instead, on March 7, the House approved a watered-down resolution denouncing “anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism and other forms of bigotry.”

More

Morning Memes

Democrats to hold 2020 convention in Milwaukee

Democrats have chosen a key battleground state to hold their 2020 national convention, where they will select a nominee to challenge President Trump.

The Democratic National Committee announced Milwaukee will host the July 13-16, 2020, convention. It's the first time the party has held a national convention in the Midwest outside of Chicago since 1916.

Holding the convention in Wisconsin is significant for Democrats after 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton declined to campaign in the state during the general election. Clinton narrowly lost the state to Trump, which along with small vote deficits in Pennsylvania and Michigan, decided the election in his favor.

"After a decade of Republican attacks on working people, labor unions, and communities of color, Democrats saw some of their biggest and most historic gains last year in Wisconsin with the election of Governor Tony Evers, Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, and Attorney General Josh Kaul, and the reelection of Senator Tammy Baldwin. Today’s announcement signals that the party is doubling down on its winning strategy in this critical battleground state," the DNC said in a statement.

More