GOP leaders announce committee chairs

Posted at 10:39 AM on November 17, 2010 by Tim Pugmire (4 Comments)
Filed under: MN Legislature

A day after unveiling a new streamlined committee structure, incoming Senate GOP Majority Leader Amy Koch and House Speaker-designate Kurt Zellers named the legislators who will chair those revamped committees.

Here's the list:

Senate committee chairs

Capitol Investment- David Senjem
Finance-Claire Robling
Taxes-Julianne Ortman
Rules-Amy Koch
Agriculture Budget & Policy-Doug Magnus
Commerce & Consumer Protection Budget & Policy-Chris Gerlach
Education Budget & Policy-Gen Olson
Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications Budget & Policy-Julie Rosen
Environment & Natural Resources Budget & Policy-Bill Ingebrigtsen
Health & Human Services Budget & Policy-David Hann
Higher Education Budget & Policy-Michelle Fischbach
Jobs and Economic Growth Budget & Policy-Geoff Michel
Local Government & Elections-Ray Vandeveer
Judiciary & Public Safety Budget & Policy-Warren Limmer
State Government Innovation and Veterans Budget & Policy-Mike Parry
Transportation Budget & Policy-Joe Gimse

House committee chairs

Ways & Means-MaryLiz Holberg
Taxes-Greg Davids
Property & Local Tax Division-Linda Runbeck
Education Finance-Pat Garofalo
Education Reform-Sondra Erickson
Health and Human Services Finance-Jim Abeler
Health and Human Services Reform-Steve Gottwalt
Ag & Rural Development Policy & Finance-Rod Hamilton
Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Policy & Finance-Tom Hackbarth
Commerce & Regulatory Reform-Joe Hoppe
Capital Investment-Larry Howes
Public Safety & Crime Prevention Policy & Finance-Tony Cornish
Civil Law-Torrey Westrom
Judiciary Policy & Finance-Steve Smith
Transportation Policy & Finance-Mike Beard
State Government Finance-Denny McNamara
Veterans Services Division-Bruce Anderson
Legacy Funding Division-Dean Urdahl
Government Operations & Elections-Joyce Peppin
Higher Education Policy & Finance-Bud Nornes
Jobs & Economic Development Finance-Bob Gunther
Rules & Legislative Administration-Matt Dean
Ethics-Steve Smith
Redistricting-Sarah Anderson

Comments (4)

Is this normal for the Speaker to also Chair the Rules Committee ?

Admittedly, the Speaker generally has the power to dictate to the Rules Committee (as well as influence other committees) but is this excessive ... or is this a "cost savings" measure much like having the LtGov also be the Transportation Director ?

Posted by Minnesota Central | November 17, 2010 12:32 PM

I know that Sertich was Rules Chair at the same time as being Majority Leader. I think Hottinger was Senate Rules Chair at the same time he was Roger Moe's number 2.

Putting someone high up in leadership as Rules Chair is pretty common practice, although I don't know what the history is on the number 1 person taking that position.

Posted by Chris | November 17, 2010 1:23 PM

Kurt Zellers is the Speaker. Matt Dean is the Majority Leader

Posted by Pat | November 17, 2010 2:28 PM

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. The House Majority Leader typically chairs the Rules Committee. The big reason for that is that the Majority Leader sets the schedule for the day and that's done through the Rules Committee.

The Senate Majority Leader also chairs the Senate Rules Committee (for the same reason). Another reason is that when a bill misses committee deadline it needs to go through the powerful Rules Committee in order to advance to the House or Senate floor. It's rarely done.

Does that help?

Posted by Tom Scheck | November 17, 2010 5:38 PM

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