EMILYs List Puts Maryland Governor Larry Hogan “On Notice”

September 14, 2017

Today, EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, put Maryland Governor Larry Hogan “On Notice” for the upcoming 2018 election. “On Notice” is a list of incumbent Republicans and legislative chambers at all levels of government being called out by EMILYs List for their anti-woman and anti-family records. EMILYs List is targeting these seats and chambers in its 2018 electoral efforts.
 
“Governor Larry Hogan has amassed a shameful record of turning his back on women’s rights and shortchanging Maryland families,” said EMILYs List Executive Director Emily Cain. “Hogan appointed a Trumpcare-proponent to head a top health care post, failed to protect Planned Parenthood funding, and vetoed expanding earned sick leave to more than  700,000 Marylanders. That is why EMILYs List is continuing its work to recruit strong, pro-choice Democratic women in 2018 to hold Republicans like Governor Hogan accountable for their out-of-touch agenda.”
 
With nearly 18,000 women reaching out to EMILYs List interested in running for office, the organization has tripled the size of its state and local campaign staff in order to provide candidates with the resources they need to run and win. 
 
The 2018 launch of this state-level “On Notice” program includes three governors, legislative bodies in ten states, three secretaries of state and a state attorney general, and is the largest ever in the organization’s 32-year history. It follows the announcement of EMILYs List’s top congressional and Senate targets in July. A full list of state-level Republican targets can be found here.
 
Background

Vetoed Paid Sick Leave Legislation. “Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Thursday that he plans to veto a paid-sick-leave bill that was approved by the legislature last month […] The legislation would require businesses with 15 or more employees to provide five days of paid sick leave […] Labor advocates, who fought for five years to get the bill through the General Assembly, said they were deeply disappointed. ‘Governor Hogan’s decision to deny hardworking Marylanders the ability to take time to care for their families is nothing short of heartless,’ Liz Richards, the director of the Working Matters Coalition, said in a statement. ‘Make no mistake — the victims of this decision are Maryland parents and children. Instead of being able to take the time they need to care for their families, these Marylanders will continue to be forced to make decisions like taking off work to visit their sick child in the hospital or paying the rent that month.’” [Washington Post, 5/26/17]

• Paid Sick Leave Would Have Helped 700,000 Workers in Maryland. “The General Assembly gave final approval Wednesday to a landmark bill that would extend paid sick leave to almost 700,000 Maryland workers” [Baltimore Sun, 4/05/17]

Tapped a Trumpcare Proponent to Head Maryland’s Health Care Commission: “Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Tuesday appointed a leading critic of the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act to chair the state’s health-care commission, drawing immediate criticism from Democrats. Robert E. Moffit has served as a member of the commission, which oversees hospitals and health care in the state, since 2015. A senior fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, he has called for a full repeal of the federal health-care law, promoted Medicare vouchers and applauded the controversial health-care bill that House Republicans passed last week.” [Washington Post, 5/09/17]