Bobby's Promise

Working families in Maryland are being treated like an ATM for Big Tech and the billionaires. Since 2020, our energy rates have surged 44% to fund infrastructure for massive data centers that strain our grid and threaten our environment, while politicians cleared the way for BGE to make $527 million in record profits last year. If the system feels rigged, it’s because it is. This is the reason why I’m not taking corporate PAC money. I answer to you, not the corporations. My promise is to put people over profits and work to end the corporate handouts that make the rich richer and hurt ordinary people like you and me. 

This is how we'll do it:

• Tax Big Tech, Lower Your Bills: We will end corporate handouts for data centers and race to the bottom tactics that pit Maryland counties against each other by implementing a statewide standard tax on data center servers. The projected $600 million annual revenue will go directly to fully funding our schools, supporting our teachers, and providing energy cost relief for Marylanders.
• Protect Our Air and Water from Corporate Loopholes: We will end the exemptions my opponent introduced that allow tech giants to build massive, polluting power stations in our backyards. We must not allow the "digital economy" to be a Trojan Horse for fracked natural gas and dirty diesel. If these billionaires want to operate in Maryland, they will use clean battery storage and Maryland-made renewables, not fossil fuels that poison our lungs and our harbor.
• A "No-Neighbor-Left-in-the-Dark" Policy: In the wealthiest state in the union, we have 400,000 families struggling each month to pay their utility bills, while corporations rake in record profits. Each and everyday, 125,000 Marylanders live in real fear that their energy will be shutoff. Heat and light are human rights, not luxury goods. We must end the cruelty of utility shutoffs for seniors, families with children, and those with medical needs.
• Energy Independence From Fossil Fuels: Hidden in our energy bills is a "Grid Tax" to out-of-state fossil fuel companies just to keep our lights on. Investing in Maryland-made offshore wind, solar, and battery storage will not only create thousands of good-paying union jobs right here at home, it will literally help to save our planet. By generating our own clean power locally and storing it through micro-grids, we can "shave the peak" off our energy demand, lower energy costs, and ensure that our future is decided by Marylanders, not by coal and gas executives in another state.
• End Corporate Power Over Regulators: In Maryland, the "referees" who decide your utility rates are the five members of the Public Service Commission (PSC). For decades, this has been a revolving door for industry insiders who approve massive infrastructure projects that guarantee BGE a 9.5% profit margin on every dollar they spend. While BGE uses its $4.4 billion in annual revenue to flood Annapolis with lobbyists and lawyers, the only agency meant to defend us, the Office of People’s Counsel (OPC), is left with a budget of just $8 million. There's a reason you've never heard of the OPC - corporations don't want you to. I must have a PSC made up of experts and consumer advocates, not corporate cronies, and I will work to ensure the People’s Lawyer has the funding and subpoena power to finally give the neighbors a fair shake.
• Right now, the "referees" who decide your utility bills are outmatched. Our state’s Public Service Commission (PSC)—the five people who vote on your rate hikes—too often acts as a revolving door for industry insiders. Meanwhile, the Office of People’s Counsel (OPC)—the only agency legally required to represent you—is fighting with a budget of just $8 million, while BGE raked in over $527 million in profit last year. We will end this "David vs. Goliath" setup by tying consumer advocacy funding to utility revenue and demanding a PSC made up of teachers, labor leaders, and experts, not corporate lobbyists. The Public Service Commission doesn't just decide what you pay; they decide if we have clean air, safe neighborhoods, and fair treatment for our drivers. Right now, it’s a tool for the well-connected. On my mission, we’re going to make it a tool for the people.
• A Grid Owned By People, Not Profiteers: Private monopolies have failed. It is time Maryland transitions away from corporate greed and return the grid to the people through a Public Power Cooperative. Nearly 55 million Americans already get their electricity from publicly owned power. They pay less and get better service. By eliminating the $527 million in dividends sent to Wall Street, we can lower rates by 13% and return control to a board elected by you, the neighbors. This is our grid, and it’s time it worked for us, not for billionaire shareholders!

Our immigrant neighbors are not "problems" to be solved; they are people to be protected. When I learned that my opponent turned his back on our neighbors by allowing Maryland to quietly cooperate with ICE, a fire was sparked in me to sacrifice my small business to stand up against him. Since Trump took office, more than 1,800 Marylanders have been taken by masked police. There are empty chairs at the dinner table. I see fear in the eyes of my friends and neighbors when they go to work or walk their kids to school. This is not the America I defended as a soldier. 

In a city like Baltimore, built brick by brick by the hands of immigrants, the struggle for their rights is a struggle for the dignity of the entire working class. Anyone who fears federal retaliation from a convicted felon more than protecting families from being torn apart in our backyard lost all qualifications to serve us in the Senate. I do not care about the political calculations of the elite. I care about protecting the human beings who live on my block.

This is how we’ll do it:

• End Cooperation With ICE: Local tax dollars should fund community safety, not federal deportation squads. No more "handshake deals" between local sheriffs and ICE. We will prohibit any Maryland agency from using staff or resources to enforce civil immigration law, banning cooperation with 287(g) agreements. UPDATE: Since announcing, my opponent now claims he will support this legislation in the upcoming session, though it’s too late to help the families of the 1,800 Marylanders already taken.
• The "Sensitive Locations" Mandate: Hospitals, schools, courthouses, places of worship, and non-profit organizations offering food assistance or domestic violence support must be off-limits to federal agents without a judicial warrant signed by a judge. No mother should be afraid to take her child to the doctor or attend a parent-teacher conference. We will codify strict "Safe Zone" protocols that prioritize human life over administrative paperwork.
• End "Just Cause" Loopholes for Tenants: Corporate landlords often use the threat of deportation to silence immigrant tenants living in squalid, dangerous conditions. We will pass a universal Tenant Protection Act ensuring that "Just Cause" eviction applies to every neighbor. No one should be forced to choose between a leaking roof and a deportation hearing.
• Ending The Digital Spy Program: Right now, if a Marylander applies for a business license, visits a state clinic or renews a driver’s license, their personal information is being vacuumed up into a federal database without a single judge ever seeing a warrant. The information is supposed to be used so law enforcement all over the country can access information pertinent to criminal investigation, but ICE is using it for deportation efforts without warrants. States like Washington and New York have already put up walls to limit ICE intrusion. Maryland must as well.
• Fund Defense, Not Detention: In 2022, Maryland passed the Access to Counsel in Immigration Proceedings Program (HB 114), which was supposed to mandate $8 million a year to ensure every detained Marylander has a lawyer. That fund has been slashed by state lawmakers. Right here in Baltimore, the Mayor had to step up with $2 million of city money for Safe City Baltimore just to keep the lights on because the state leadership went missing. We need to stop the "political games" and fully fund the state's promise. 

A Plan for a King, Not a President. Project 2025 is not just a book on a shelf. It is a manual to break our democracy. It is a plan to give one person the power of a king and take away the rights of everyone else.

As I testified in mid-December, we have already seen what happens when these people get their way. We see mass job losses. We see neighbors being torn from their homes. But the worst is yet to come. Their plan is to end reproductive freedom for every woman in America and hand your Social Security over to the big banks. To do that, they need more control in Congress.

Maryland is the Front Line. The Maryland House of Delegates has done its job. HB0488, the House redistricting bill, was introduced, debated, and passed. Delegates took a public vote. They stood up and were counted.

The fate of the bill now sits in the Maryland Senate.

As Senate President, Bill Ferguson controls whether HB0488 receives a vote. Instead of allowing the Senate to debate and decide, he has pledged to keep the bill in the Senate Rules Committee, where it can die without a single senator ever having to go on record.

That is not leadership. That is obstruction.

When one person prevents an entire legislative body from voting, it undermines the democratic process. The Senate was elected to deliberate and decide, not to quietly bury legislation that has already passed the House. Refusing to allow a floor vote denies transparency and accountability to the people of Maryland.

We are watching this playbook in real time at the national level under Donald Trump, where power is consolidated, processes are bypassed, and accountability is avoided. Maryland must not mirror those tactics, and the issue of redistricting must be given the democratic process it is owed.

The Maryland General Assembly is meant to function openly. The House has acted. The Senate must now do the same.

Bring HB0488 to the floor.
Let our Senators debate.
Let them vote.

Please, join me. Donate what you can today. Let’s save our democracy together.

In 2021, Maryland made a promise to every family: a world-class education system that would lift our children out of poverty. They called it "The Blueprint." But today, the political establishment is preparing to break that promise. Citing "fiscal concerns," they are choosing to protect corporate tax breaks while telling our children and teachers to settle for less.

I refuse to accept that choice. We cannot build a world-class system on a foundation of missing pillars. We don't need more delays or excuses; we need to support the educators who show up every day for our kids. My mission is to fully fund the Blueprint, not by taxing working families, but by making the luxury economy and big corporations pay their fair share.

This is how we'll do it:

• Launch the 60/40 Pilot NOW: We will not accept blanket delays. We will immediately implement a 60/40 Collaborative Time Pilot Program for High-Needs and Title I schools, giving educators the time they need for lesson study and expert coaching.
• Coaching Over Credentials: We will stop wasting taxpayer money on expensive credentials that have a low return on investment. Instead, we will redirect funding to high-impact Instructional Coaching, which is proven to drive real results in the classroom.
• The Maryland State Teaching Residency: We will solve the shortage by training teachers through state-school partnerships rather than expensive private programs. New teachers will have the resources and support they need to succeed.
• "Work Where You Live" Educator Homeownership: We will expand "Smart Buy 3.0" down payment grants up to $20,000 and offer property tax credits to help teachers put down roots in the districts they serve.
• Stop the "Revolving Door": We will reinvest the $125 million lost annually to turnover directly into the pockets of veteran teachers, providing retention stipends for those hitting key experience marks.
• "Maryland First" Funding Model: We will close the budget gap by earmarking data center fees and luxury taxes, not by squeezing working families. The corporations will fund the workforce of the future.
• Allowing Teachers the Right to Strike: We will legalize the right to strike so educators can freely advocate for their students without fear of losing their union certification. By mandating a 14-day notice and triggering emergency child care and food distribution plans, we will ensure that fighting for a world-class education never comes at the expense of a child's next meal.

[Read the Full Education White Paper Here]

For generations, neighborhoods like Curtis Bay, Cherry Hill, Brooklyn, Westport, and West Baltimore have been treated as "sacrifice zones": places where industry could pollute, where housing could crumble, and where politicians could make promises that never arrived. Today, these same communities face a new threat: "revitalization" without protections.

Housing justice and environmental justice are the same fight. A neighborhood isn’t "improving" if the people who built it get pushed out the moment it becomes profitable. My opponent and the Annapolis elite want to "streamline" development, but they won't streamline your right to stay in your own home. We must stop wealthy developers from turning our history into their next luxury condo project.

This is how we'll do it:

• End the "AMI Fiction" & Fund Community Land Trusts (CLTs): The establishment uses "Area Median Income" (AMI) to claim housing is affordable, but they include the wealthy suburbs in that math. We will mandate that any project receiving state funds must be affordable based on actual neighborhood incomes. We must increase the state’s investment in Community Land Trusts to take land off the speculative market and put it into the hands of the people. Permanent affordability shouldn't be a dream. It's a policy choice.
• The "Right to Stay" & "Right to Return": If a developer wants state money or zoning favors, they must guarantee that current residents are the first to benefit. We will pass a statewide Right to Return law: if you are temporarily relocated for redevelopment, you have a guaranteed, legally binding right to a unit in the new project at your old rent. No exceptions, no "lost" paperwork, no excuses.
• Statewide Rent Stabilization & "Just Cause" Eviction: While my opponent sits in the Senate, corporate landlords are hiking rents by 10%, 20%, or 30% a year just because they can. We will follow the lead of Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties and pass statewide rent stabilization, capping annual increases at 3% or the rate of inflation. We will also pass "Just Cause" eviction to ensure that a landlord can't kick you out just to "refresh" the building for higher-paying tenants.
• A Real Path from Renter to Owner: The "transition" from renting to owning shouldn't be a lottery. We will create a state-backed "Rent-to-Equity" program. If you have lived in and paid rent on a property for five years, you should have the Right of First Refusal to purchase that home, supported by zero-interest state loans. We will stop the "Buy Back the Block" programs from being underfunded and make them a permanent, guaranteed right for long-term residents.
• Stop the Rubber-Stamping of Pollution: No more permits for incinerators or coal terminals in Black and brown communities. We will pass the Cumulative Impact Act, requiring the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to deny any industrial permit that adds more pollution to a neighborhood that is already overburdened. If you wouldn't put a coal terminal in Annapolis, you don't get to put one in Curtis Bay.
• Community-Led, Not Developer-Driven: We will end "machine-driven" planning. We will mandate Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) for every project over $1 million. These aren't "suggestions", they are legally binding contracts that ensure new projects provide real jobs, medical support for environmental harm, and local infrastructure that neighbors actually want.

If an employer denies a worker the right to unionize, it is because that employer is exploiting them. Plain and simple. For too long, the political establishment has sided with the billionaire class and massive nonprofit institutions, while the people who keep Maryland running, our teachers, firefighters, hospital staff, and warehouse workers, are told to settle for less. We are going to end the era of corporate handouts and return power to working people.

Here’s how we do it:

• Stand With Our First Responders: We will fight to end the crisis of dangerously long shifts and crumbling firehouses by mandating minimum staffing requirements and providing state capital for the modern equipment our firefighters need to save lives.
• End the Gig-Economy Scam: We will work to pass a Workplace Safety Bill of Rights to stop Big Tech from misclassifying workers as "contractors" to dodge the minimum wage and workers' compensation.
• Guarantee Collective Bargaining for All: Every worker who serves the public, from graduate students and adjunct professors to transit workers and EMTs, must have the legally protected right to negotiate for fair pay and dignified working conditions.
• Stop the Exploitation at Amazon: We will work to ban the use of predatory algorithms and production quotas that treat human beings like machines, and we will ensure warehouse workers have the right to organize without fear of retaliation.
• Treat Wage Theft as a Crime: When a corporation steals a worker's paycheck, it is a crime. We will work to implement joint corporate liability and criminal penalties for repeat offenders to ensure every worker receives every penny they have earned.
• Put Baltimore Residents First: If a company receives a single dollar in state subsidies or tax credits for a project in Baltimore, Baltimore residents must be first in line for those jobs and union apprenticeships.
• Establish Workplace Safety for Every Industry: We will work to enact a statewide mandate for heat protections, whistleblower status, and heavy penalties for any employer who attempts to hide safety violations.

For too long, the "business as usual" crowd in Annapolis has treated our lungs, our water, and our future as collateral damage for corporate profit. While my opponent accepts the status quo, I’ve seen first hand the impact on our waterways. Environmental justice isn't a "luxury" issue, it’s a survival issue.

We don't need more "study groups" or corporate-friendly compromises. We need the courage to stop the polluters at the source and build a clean energy economy that belongs to the people. 

This is how we’ll do it:

• The "CHERISH" Mandate: Stop Cumulative Poisoning: Right now, Maryland looks at pollution permits in a vacuum. They ignore the fact that one neighborhood might already have three factories and a highway. We will pass the CHERISH Our Communities Act to end this "death by a thousand cuts." If a permit would add more pollution to a community already struggling with high asthma rates and environmental burdens, the state must have the power to say NO.
• Hold Big Coal Accountable: Coal dust is settling in our playgrounds and our lungs. We will establish the Coal Dust Clean Up and Asthma Mitigation Fund, placing a $13-per-ton fee on coal transported through our state. This isn’t just a fee; it’s accountability. We will generate $300 million annually to fund climate programs and provide $5 million specifically for asthma treatment in the communities living along the transport routes.
• The Better Buildings Act: We shouldn’t be building the problems of tomorrow today. We will require all new construction in Maryland to be fully electric. By moving away from fossil fuel heating, we lower energy costs for families and eliminate the indoor air pollution that triggers respiratory illness. If New York and California can do it, Maryland can lead the way.
• Restore the Bay with the Nearshore Farm Finance Act: Protecting the Chesapeake Bay requires more than just slogans. We will implement 100-foot waterfront farm buffers to stop nitrogen and phosphorus runoff at the source. Unlike the current "pay-to-pollute" schemes, we will provide direct financial incentives to both landowners and tenant farmers to install high-performing, permanent vegetative buffers. We will save the Bay while keeping our family farms whole.
• Abundant, Affordable Clean Energy (AACE): We will pass the AACE Act to jumpstart a massive build-out of Maryland-made solar and wind power. By streamlining procurement and increasing energy storage, we make our grid reliable and independent. We will stop the "race to the bottom" and start a race to the top—creating thousands of union jobs right here in Baltimore.

In a city where the average transit rider can only reach 9% of regional jobs within an hour, our current system isn't just broken, it’s a barrier to opportunity. For too long, the political establishment has ignored the fact that Baltimore’s transit riders spend twice as long commuting as those with cars, effectively stealing time and money from working people. We must stop treating reliable transportation as a luxury and start treating it as a requirement. 

Here’s how we do it:

• Build the Red Line Now: We will finally deliver the east-west light rail connection that Baltimore was promised, cutting commute times and connecting the "Black Butterfly" to the region’s major job centers.
• Expand Bus Rapid Transit (BRT): In 2025, we must implement dedicated bus lanes and signal priority on our busiest corridors to ensure that "rapid" is a reality for workers who cannot afford to be late.
• Fix the Reliability Crisis: I’m tired of waiting for a bus that never comes. You should be too. We should explore ways to fully fund bus maintenance and operator recruitment to eliminate the "ghost buses" that leave students, workers, and seniors stranded on the sidewalk.
• Establish Transit Equity Standards: We will work to mandate that state transportation spending be prioritized for communities with the highest need rather than those with the most political influence.
• Ensure Safety and Dignity: It’s about time we move away from the past and invest in real-time arrival technology, lighted shelters, and accessible stations to ensure every Marylander can travel with the safety and respect they deserve.