Committee requests and assignments

[GunnyFreedom]

Here I will list the committees I requested, and then when they are announced I'll follow up with what committees I'm actually assigned to.

First we had to choose between Finance (revenues) or Appropriations (spending) we had to be on one or the other. If we picked Appropriations, we had to prioritize our subcommittees.

I picked Appropriations with subcommittees in the following order of preference:

1 Transportation
2 Information Technology
3 Education
4 General Government
5 Natural and Economic Resources
6 Health and Human Services
7 Justice and Public Safety

I then pick two from another list,

My first pick was "Justice" but only if I got the 'criminal law' subcommittee. If I could not get Justice/Criminal, then I asked for Commerce and Job Development w subcommittee preference (in order Science and Technology, Business and Labor, or Alcohon & Beverage Control)

My second pick was the standing committee on Government

I then got to serve on THREE of the following list, listed in order of preference 1-10

1 Military & Homeland Security
2 Agriculture
3 Transportation
4 Election Law
5 Banking
6 Rules
7 Ethics
8 Public Utilities
9 State Personnel
10 Insurance

SO, if I got "everything I wanted" then I would get:

Standing Committee on Appropriations, in the Transportation subcommittee.
Standing Committee on Justice, in the Criminal Law subcommittee.
Standing Committee on Government.
Standing Committee on Military and Homeland Security.
Standing Committee on Agriculture.
Standing Committee on Transportation.

I do not expect to get 'everything I wanted.'

State tuned for my actual committee assignments to be revealed sometime between Thursday morning and Friday night. We will see how well they synch up with my requests. :cool:

[MozoVote]

I'm gonna try to oddsmake...

Transportation is probably a popular subcommittee. Every legislator would like to claim they had a hand in getting a road built, since that's open evidence to voters of the Leggie's usefulness. Probably not likely to get on, as a freshman.

Information Tech sounds kind of wonk-y and I think that's a decent shot - although perhaps there is more interest in that than I might suspect depending on what that one does.

Education is also one I think would get a lot of interest. Voters care about their schools... education is over half the state budget... Conservatively you may not get on this either.

So I think (2) and something from (4 to 7) sound probable.

...

On the other list, I have heard that veterans issues have a hard time making headway in the Legislature and that most of the Leggie's are from the law, finance or real estate professions. I think you have a good shot at that one since you're a natural fit.

Ag is something of a sleeper, maybe not quite as strong a chance as Military since the east side Leggie's representing rural areas may dominate this, but we'll see.

Transportation, same comment... I think most would not pass this up if they can get on it.

Election Law would probably not be too hard to get on in most years, but during redistricting it could get more interest.

Banking may be hard for you to get on b/c it's probably stacked towards attorneys and financiers.

Rules is probably seen as an arcane and obscure committee... I would think the speaker would be glad to see people volunteer to serve on that.

The others, who knows... depends if you get your top picks.

I remember Ruth Samuleson saying as a freshman, she got "soil and water". But upon serving on it, she found it to be more interesting than she expected. Whichever committees you step into, I think you'll bring some much needed fresh thinking.

[libertybrewcity]

if i may ask, why transportation?

[GunnyFreedom]

if i may ask, why transportation?

Transportation Appropriations because Franklin County has a relatively small project that is killing people for lack of it. US Highway 401 bottlenecks to two lanes for some 8 miles between the county line and Louisburg, and it carries almost as much traffic as US1. Of course, being a US Highway, much of the funding for it shold come from Federal money rather than State, and Trans Approp is where I am most able to fight that battle. Plus, whithout asking me, the NCGOP made the Highway 401 widening a campaign primary issue between me and John May, so while I was going to fight for that project anyway, it has now shifted into a higher priority because it became a major campaign issue.

I do not expect to get Transportation Appropriations, of course, because EVERYBODY wants Transportation Appropriations. The 'ask' was required though, because of the position I was put in without my consultation during the campaign. Also, and this was the most minor of considerations, if we do manage to widen that 8 mile stretch of Hwy 401, I'd barely have to campaign for re-election in Franklin, as it is a project that pretty much the entire county wants desperately, and has been screaming about for a decade now. Whoever gets that project going will be a major hero in this county, as it is literally (I was not joking) killing people.

It galls me to even consider having to propose spending, to be honest, but the bottleneck is actually killing people, it's certainly needed, and something close to 90% of Franklin County residents want it desperately, and the lack of that work over the last 10 years is one of the primary factors that has led to my counties disgust with politicians.

Transportation Policy because of a Federal boondoggle of a High Speed Passenger Rail system that will cut two major townships in Franklin County in half without stopping in the county at all, absorb all kinds of property through eminent domain, and make emergency services almost twice as expensive to provide. Non-stop from Raleigh NC to Richmond, VA. It's nothing but bad bad news for Franklin and Vance Counties. Nobody wants it outside of government goons who want an easy way to get to DC, and someone needs to be there to fight against it.



ETA: also, WRT the 401 project, if it gets done it should be done RIGHT. by Transportation Appropriations through Federal coordination on an existing Highways bill, and NOT as an earmark on some unrelated bill. The best place to make sure that happens is Trans Approp.

[GunnyFreedom]

Committee Assignments are official:

Appropriations;
Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government;

Commerce and Job Development;
Commerce and Job Development Subcommittee on Science and Technology;

Agriculture;

Homeland Security, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee;

Judiciary;

[TCE]

Not bad, but some obscure committees for sure. Is there anyway you can ask the GOP leadership for help with your 8-mile fund? In thinking about it, since it is such a popular issue, you might be able to get creative with this. Can you grab a bipartisan coalition to get the funding or perhaps contact The Franklin Times or Charlotte Observer and tell them what you're trying to do, make the highway safer and more efficient for everyone. Another option is to contact State Sen. Berger (not sure if the name is correct) and try to get him involved as well or recruit some other people in your general area who would also be for this. Obviously it would be best to try and get the GOP leadership behind you.

If you can get this through, it becomes a medal that you can take with you throughout your political career. You're not even there three weeks and already trying to tackle what is potentially the biggest problem in your district is huge. I'm sure most people don't get any of their needs met through their Reps in their entire tenures, so this would be monumental.

[invisible]

Congrats! These all look like excellent committee assignments! Every one of these should offer an excellent opportunity to have a strong voice in a variety of important issues.

[libertybrewcity]

Transportation Appropriations because Franklin County has a relatively small project that is killing people for lack of it. US Highway 401 bottlenecks to two lanes for some 8 miles between the county line and Louisburg, and it carries almost as much traffic as US1. Of course, being a US Highway, much of the funding for it shold come from Federal money rather than State, and Trans Approp is where I am most able to fight that battle. Plus, whithout asking me, the NCGOP made the Highway 401 widening a campaign primary issue between me and John May, so while I was going to fight for that project anyway, it has now shifted into a higher priority because it became a major campaign issue.

I do not expect to get Transportation Appropriations, of course, because EVERYBODY wants Transportation Appropriations. The 'ask' was required though, because of the position I was put in without my consultation during the campaign. Also, and this was the most minor of considerations, if we do manage to widen that 8 mile stretch of Hwy 401, I'd barely have to campaign for re-election in Franklin, as it is a project that pretty much the entire county wants desperately, and has been screaming about for a decade now. Whoever gets that project going will be a major hero in this county, as it is literally (I was not joking) killing people.

It galls me to even consider having to propose spending, to be honest, but the bottleneck is actually killing people, it's certainly needed, and something close to 90% of Franklin County residents want it desperately, and the lack of that work over the last 10 years is one of the primary factors that has led to my counties disgust with politicians.

Transportation Policy because of a Federal boondoggle of a High Speed Passenger Rail system that will cut two major townships in Franklin County in half without stopping in the county at all, absorb all kinds of property through eminent domain, and make emergency services almost twice as expensive to provide. Non-stop from Raleigh NC to Richmond, VA. It's nothing but bad bad news for Franklin and Vance Counties. Nobody wants it outside of government goons who want an easy way to get to DC, and someone needs to be there to fight against it.



ETA: also, WRT the 401 project, if it gets done it should be done RIGHT. by Transportation Appropriations through Federal coordination on an existing Highways bill, and NOT as an earmark on some unrelated bill. The best place to make sure that happens is Trans Approp.

That's really interesting! Thanks for the information. I had no idea that it was that important! Goodluck with your committee assignments.