The Race is On

Although it's been a little slow out of the gate, we finally had some movement in the Senate this week and the steady sprint toward May 15 has begun.

We started session this year on January 7, but with two inaugurations and a holiday, we haven't had much official progress. I've been keeping plenty busy with constituent duties, meetings with advocacy groups and legislation drafting. Yesterday things finally got going with the naming and appointments of the standing committees. There were a few changes to the committee structure this year. A few of the committees were combined and others were split. The most notable change was the addition of a committee chaired by a Democrat, with a Democratic majority (3-2) as members.

The Progress and Development Committee will be chaired by Minority Leader Victor Callahan and I will serve on the committee as vice-chair. If you take a look at the bills that are assigned to the committee so far, and then take a look at the membership of the committee, it's safe to say that this may be one of the more interesting committees to watch this session (some of the most liberal bills have been assigned to the committee which is made up of some of the most conservative Senators).

Overall I was very pleased with my committee assignments. The Democrats lost three seats in November and we are now outnumbered by Republicans 23-11. Consequently we lost seats on some of the committees. I will no longer serve on Rules, but I picked up Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy & the Environment.

Additionally, I will continue my service on Financial and Governmental Organizations and Elections; Health, Mental Health, Seniors and Families; and Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence.

Now that committee assignments are finalized, bills were able to be second-read and assigned to committees for hearings today. The hearing schedule for next week is slowly taking shape and it looks like I'll start Monday with at least three committee hearings on topics ranging from pre-need funeral contracts to domestic violence.

I'd love to hear your thoughts or questions about the committee process or other topics related to state government. You can join me every Friday morning at 9:00 AM for coffee and conversation at Coffee Break -- 5400 Troost Avenue. If you can't make it on a Friday, I'll hold events around the 10th District on one Saturday each month and you can always contact my office with your questions or concerns.