Although the Legislature has been in session for two weeks, the real work begins today.
Until then, most of the session has been devoted to setting the stage, including making committee assignments. Both the House and Senate finished that job Friday, with the Golden Triangle’s seven legislators assigned to a combined 47 committees, including three chair positions and two vice chair positions.
District 17 Senator Chuck Younger (R-Columbus) finds himself on 10 committees in his first full term in the Senate, including the chair position for the County Affairs Committee.
“I was told during the process that the County Affairs Committee is one of the committees where you can really make a difference for your community, so I asked for that one,” Younger said. “It’s not going to be an easy ride. From what I hear the county supervisors are all pushing for a raise, but with the way things are predicted to be this year, I just don’t see how we have the money. But aside from that, I’m really looking forward to working for the county and helping them with their needs.”
Younger, a rancher and farmer by occupation, said he was also please to have a spot on the Agriculture and Forestry committees.
Meanwhile, first-time Representative Kabir Karriem (D-Columbus) was placed on five committees — including the Municipalities, Military Affairs, Ports/Harbors/Airports and Tourism committees.
“I really like the committee assignments I got because all of them deal with things here Lowndes County,” Karriem said.
He said he was also intrigued by his spot on the Drug Policy Committee.
“That’s an important one to me because it is a real problem all across our state,” he said. “I think we’ve made a mistake in looking at the problem just as a criminal problem. I think we should be looking at it as an illness in many cases, so I’m very interested in being a part of those discussions.”
Veteran lawmakers Jeff Smith (R-Columbus) and Rep. Gary Chism (R-Columbus) retained their chair positions in Ways and Means and Insurance, respectively.
Committee assignments for the 2016 legislative session
Angela Turner (D) Senate District 16
Constitution (vice chair)
Accountability/Efficiency/Transparency
Appropriations
Ethics
Judiciary A
Veterans/Military Affairs
Chuck Younger (R) Senate District 17
County Affairs (chairman)
Agriculture
Appropriations
Economic Development
Environment/Conservation/Water Resources
Forestry
Highways/Transportation
Housing
Medicaid
Public Health/Welfare
Gary Chism (R) District 37
Insurance (chairman)
Conservation/Water Resources
Education
Judiciary A
Judiciary En Banc
Local/Private Legislation
Public Utilities
Ways & Means
Tyrone Ellis (D) House District 38
Accountability/Efficiency/Transparency
Apportionment/Elections
Corrections
Judiciary B
Judiciary En Banc
Ways & Means
Jeff Smith (R) House District 39
Ways and Means (chair)
Constitution
Judiciary A
Judiciary En Banc
Revenue/Expenditures General Bills
Kabir Karriem (D) House District 41
Drug Policy
Military Affairs
Municipalities
Ports/Harbors/Airports
Tourism
Rob Roberson (R) House District 43
Education (vice chair)
County Affairs
Judiciary A
Judiciary En Banc
Local/Private Legislation
Municipalities
Transportation
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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