Maryland Republicans pledge to ‘restore balance’ with public safety agenda

Senate and House Republicans vowed Tuesday to redress what House Minority Leader Jason Buckel, R-Allegany, called Maryland’s “soft on crime policies” with a 2024 public safety agenda that would intensify punishment for adults accused of gun-related and violent crimes and reverse reforms to the youth legal system passed by the General Assembly in 2022. “The crime we’re seeing in our communities is not anecdotal, nor media manufactured,” said Senate Minority Leader Stephen Hershey, R-Kent, Queen Anne’s, Cecil and Caroline.