AIM’s “People’s Agenda”

2026-2030

Developed through listening sessions with over 1,800 people in Montgomery County in 2025

Read Montgomery County candidates’ responses to our questionnaire here.

IMMIGRATION:

Legal Representation

  • We are grateful Montgomery County has already stepped up to defend our immigrant community members, for example through the Trust Act and Values Act, against the unprecedented attacks of the current federal administration, but it is not enough. 

  • Access to legal representation is not just a technical issue, it is a fundamental strategy to safeguard due process, especially for those facing detention and navigating a complex immigration system. In Maryland, about 81 percent of detained immigrants proceed without representation.

Mental Health Support

  • The impact of recent federal immigration enforcement policies has been immense, especially on children and families. We have heard story after story from individuals in our community who are experiencing ongoing stress and trauma caused by aggressive immigration enforcement, fear of family separation, community violence, and long-term impacts of the pandemic. 

  • These challenges are further compounded by limited access to culturally responsive and affordable mental health care. Expanding mental health resources is essential to support healing, strengthen resilience, and ensure the overall well being of our communities.

Job Opportunities for Immigrant MoCo Residents

  • Protections for immigrant workers are also a pressing concern. Many families are experiencing job instability due to immigration enforcement practices that lead to sudden job loss, reduced hours, or unsafe working conditions. This harms not only families but the local economy that depends on their labor and spending. Undocumented immigrants play a significant role in Maryland’s economy and paid over $700 million in taxes in 2022.

HOUSING:

Housing Near Public Transit

  • In our listening sessions, young adults just starting out, service workers and teachers on whom our community relies, and seniors shared they need both housing that fits their income and smaller housing options, particularly near public transit. As reported recently in The Washington Post, Portland's success at building more housing in their city by allowing “missing middle” homes like duplexes and townhomes can serve as a model.

  • Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman's “Housing and the Economy” report shows that young adults are leaving the state to start their working lives in other places because of the cost of housing, which will have a devastating impact on our economy if not reversed. Between 2020 and 2022, 300,000 more people left Maryland for other states than moved to Maryland, including a growing share of young adults.

  • We support “by-right” permitting, which allows new housing to be built as long as it meets existing standards, instead of requiring a long approval process for each individual project.

Public Land for Public Good

  • Montgomery County has successfully built mixed-income, including deeply affordable, housing on public land. We have appreciated partnering with elected officials on this work for 25 years. 

  • AIM supports mixed-income housing to be co-located with a new library in Chevy Chase, especially because it is walking distance to a new Purple Line stop and several bus lines. We are deeply disappointed by recent attempts to only renovate the library and not include housing on the site.

HEALTHY HOMES/ CLIMATE EQUITY: 

Clean Air

  • AIM, in coalition with community partners, has been leading indoor air quality tests since 2022. 

  • We have measured high levels of nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant that results from gas-powered appliances, and methane which causes respiratory illness. (Read the report at tinyurl.com/cookingupdanger.)

  • We also know through our deep tenant organizing that many older rental apartments have limited ventilation, making residents who live there especially vulnerable.

  • We support and encourage landlords to transition to high-efficiency appliances that run on clean energy and improve indoor air quality, such as heat pumps and induction stoves.

Energy Affordability and Utility Accountability

  • We heard from many across the county who are burdened with high energy costs, often choosing between paying their energy bill or buying groceries. Some residents have shared that they’ve received bills higher than $800 per month, while others have shared that they are in debt to utility companies.

  • In the meantime, utility companies Washington Gas & Light (WGL) and PEPCO have been requesting rate increases to raise utility bills of $82.5 million and $133 million, respectively. We have been organizing to hold corporate utilities accountable. We want Maryland to prioritize clean, affordable energy, and opposing rate increases that go towards corporate profits. 

RELATIONAL POWER:

  • At AIM, community organizing is fundamentally relational. We build power by building relationships within and across the diversity of our county, and we believe that effective governance requires more than good policy platforms. It requires the ability to listen, to learn, and to work collaboratively.