AFT-Maryland is a proud member of the Fair Funding Coalition (FFC). This coalition is a collection of organizations that seek to ensure that Maryland public schools are fairly funded for every student throughout the state. The coalition is a cross section of justice organizations, advocacy groups, labor unions, and more. It uses its combined power to lobby for fair and full funding of the Kirwan Commission’s recommendations to improve Maryland public schools and make them more equitable for Maryland students, including those in Baltimore city and the surrounding counties where our members live, work, and send their children to school.
During the opening weeks of the legislative session, AFT-Maryland has been instrumental in working with the FFC to support a number of revenue generating legislation that will ensure that the state can comfortably afford the investment in education that comes with Kirwan recommendations. What’s additionally important to AFT-Maryland is that this investment does not come at the expense of state workers and other state services. The coalition has largely supported bills that call on millionaires and billionaires here in the nation’s wealthiest state to pay their fair share.
The best example of AFT-Maryland and the FFC’s fight to ensure fairness and equity in our taxes is the support for two revenue bills: HB222 which calls for a net 1% increase on Capital Gains Income. Another bill is SB216 which is a Carried Interest Tax attributable to certain investment management services. These taxes won’t affect most Marylanders but rather those who have been most fortunate and have shouldered less of a burden than the rest of us. There are more pieces of legislation the AFT-Maryland is supporting as a member of the FFC, but those bills serve as an example of the work being done to ensure Maryland honors its commitment to educate every student.
2020-02-18
Member testimony is vital to the work AFT-Maryland does in Annapolis on behalf of its locals. If you would like to submit written testimony or come to Annapolis to provide oral testimony on behalf of your union, please contact Todd Reynolds, AFT-Maryland Political Coordiantor at treynolds@aftmd.org.