4th of July, By the Numbers

The folks at Stateline put up this neat infographic about the Fourth of July.

Click to Enlarge

Stateline is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news service of the Pew Charitable Trusts that provides daily reporting and analysis on trends in state policy.

So what are some of the figures for Maryland?

• In 1770, there were roughly 200,000 Marylanders (see pg 16 of this Census PDF). Today there are 5.8 million.
• Maryland isn't a big cattle producing state (at least compared to Texas), so the best figure I could find combined our beef production with Delaware's for a total of 3.8 million pounds of beef production in May 2013. This was just 0.6 percent of what TX produced that same month!
• Maryland ranked much higher on broiler chicken production. In 2011 we produced 311.1 million broiler chickens worth $724.9 million for 7th place.
• However, Maryland only had 4,000 acres of potatoes as of 2006. Idaho is hard to beat on this front.
• AAA Mid-Atlantic estimates 798,400 Marylanders will travel over the holiday, down slightly from last year.
• And speaking of the calendar, five months after the signing of the Declaration of Independence the Continental Congress moved to Baltimore, meeting in the Henry Fite House on the site now occupied by 1st Mariner Arena (the house was destroyed in the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904). 

The Week Ahead

Last week on the blog, we celebrated the end of the state fiscal year by reviewing last year's budgetary process. The new fiscal year for the state begins today, and the state's gas tax and toll increases are now in effect.

On Thursday of last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released their employment and wage figures for the fourth quarter of 2012, covering the nation's 329 largest counties. Each of the eight Maryland counties included in the report saw employment growth during that period, with Baltimore City seeing the most growth (a 6.1 percent increase over the quarter). A summary of the report can be found here.  

A few weeks ago, Neil Bergsman presented to the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore about the effects of sequestration on that region of the state. Coverage from WMDT of that presentation can be found here.

There are few events this week due to the July 4th holiday. Have a happy and safe Independence Day.

For the week of July 1st through 7th:

• On Monday, July 1st (the first day of fiscal year 2014), the Task Force to Study Economic Development and Apprenticeships hosts an organizational meeting at 3pm in room 230 of the House Office Building at 6 Bladen Street in Annapolis. They will also provide a background on current apprenticeship programs.
• On Tuesday, July 2nd, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its Metropolitan Area Employment report for May at 10am.
• On Wednesday, July 3rd, the Board of Public Works meets at 10am in the Governor's Reception Room on the second floor of the State House in Annapolis. The meeting's agenda can be found here. It includes approval for an upcoming $475 million sale of state bonds; $6 million in local library projects; and a $71 million 5-year contract for lottery advertising, marketing and related services. 
• Thursday July 4th is Independence Day. Most government offices are closed. Have fun and be safe.
• On Friday, July 5th, the BLS will publish its Employment Situation figures for June. MBPTI's offices will be closed on Friday.

Declaration of Interdependence

Happy Independence Day!  236 years ago the founding fathers adopted the Declaration of Independence and committed themselves to fight for their freedom from England. But it was also a declaration of interdependence, each state leaning on the others as they stood up to face the British empire. The 13 colonies, now states, made this clear in the final line of the declaration: "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of the divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

Liberty and freedom are often highlighted as the virtues upon which our nation is based--and so they are. But America is also based on a sense of community, of coming together in our time of need to protect and care for our neighbors as they do the same for us. This sense of community has never been perfect. There have always been excluded groups, whether Native Americans, blacks, women, non-Western European immigrants, or the poor. But throughout the centuries our country has been at its strongest when we stood together and expanded the circle.

Roosevelt understood this when he spoke of the four freedoms:

• Freedom of speech and expression
• Freedom of worship
• Freedom from want
• Freedom from fear

The recent heat wave is a perfect example of how community make us stronger.  Neighbors with power helping those without, drivers (for the most part) stopping at intersections without stoplights to let folks on the side roads through, or utility crews from distant states driving overnight to help out.

Have fun tomorrow (and be safe).  And remember that the Fourth of July is as much a celebration of coming together as a national community as it is of independence from foreign control.