Overview
- Delegates Natalie Ziegler, a Democrat, and Jeff Ghrist, a Republican, will serve as co-chairs of the cross-party caucus.
- The group held its first virtual meeting Tuesday and set a standing Tuesday 8 a.m. schedule with time reserved for public comment.
- Early focus areas include rural health care access, food insecurity, agricultural preservation, land-use authority, energy infrastructure and economic development tied to farming, fishing and tourism.
- Maryland Agriculture Secretary Kevin Atticks pledged agency partnership and noted agriculture remains the state's top industry.
- Local leaders emphasized opposition to unfunded mandates and state preemption of county zoning, as membership spans Western Maryland, the Eastern Shore, Southern Maryland and rural central counties.