Archive for the ‘State Legislature News’ Category

From Courier-Journal:

Senate President David Williams and Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer, running as a slate in next year’s governor’s race, took in about $500,000 this week at a Lexington fundraiser, according to their campaign manager.

Williams and Farmer are seeking the Republican nomination to oppose Gov. Steve Beshear and his running mate for lieutenant governor, Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson.

The fundraiser, their first, was held at Lexington’s Donamire Farm, owned by Lexington developers Don and Mira Ball.

It likely was the highest-grossing event in a state election since the law limited contributions to $1,000 per person in each election beginning in 1995.

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From Journalnow.com:

North Carolina Senate Republicans yesterday nominated their minority leader as their choice to be the leader of the entire chamber when the Senate reconvenes in January under its first GOP majority in more than a century.

The Senate Republican Caucus met privately in Raleigh and, in a voice vote without opposition, settled on Sen. Phil Berger of Eden as its choice for Senate president pro tempore, said Brent Woodcox, a spokesman for the caucus.

The actual election for pro tem won’t occur until all 50 senators are seated on the first day of the new legislative session, but Republicans will have a 31-19 advantage, making Berger’s election almost a certainty.

Berger, 58, was first elected to the Senate in 2000 and elevated to minority leader in 2004.

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From Commercial Appeal:

Republicans in the state House of Representatives are likely to select the next House speaker Thursday, three weeks earlier than they had planned.

The two main candidates for speaker — Reps. Glen Casada, R-Franklin, and Beth Harwell, R-Nashville — both signed a letter and e-mailed it to their House Republican colleagues today saying they believe it’s in the caucus’s best interests to proceed with the vote Thursday rather than wait until Dec. 8.

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From nola.com:

The most recent migration started even before voters went to the polls, when interim Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle bolted the Democratic Party for the GOP. Soon afterwards came word that veteran state Sen. John Alario is strongly considering making the same move. Rookie state Rep. Walker Hines, meanwhile, made his switch official. Others are rumored to be not so far behind.

The road these three are traveling was paved by a number of other Louisiana politicians over the years, from former U.S. Rep. Billy Tauzin to former Gov. Buddy Roemer to current state Treasurer John Kennedy. But Angelle, Alario and Hines aren’t really following Tauzin, Roemer and Kennedy. It’s more that they’re following the voters.

What’s interesting about the latest crop of potential and actual party switchers is that none fits the stereotype of a classic conservative.

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From Helenair.com:

Republicans soon to hold a historically large majority in the Montana House have picked a leader who promises a pragmatic approach to cutting spending.

House Republicans on Wednesday elected Rep. Mike Milburn of Cascade as their new speaker. Milburn represents a comparatively tempered choice next to Rep. Krayton Kerns of Laurel, who cast himself as an ardent tea party favorite.

Milburn promises to push for less spending so that taxes can be cut, and to push back against federal health care reform and wolf management.

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From BillingsGazette:

Top leadership spots for the 2011 legislative session appear to be already settled, except for the House Republican caucus.

In the 68-member House Republican meeting Tuesday, a contested race is set for the top job of House speaker between Reps. Krayton Kerns of Laurel and Mike Milburn of Cascade.

Kerns has described himself as the Tea Party favorite, although Milburn has said fiscal issues would be his top priority as speaker.

The House speaker appoints committees, sets the House agenda and directs the House business and usually is the House’s key negotiator with the Senate and governor’s office.

Three Republicans are vying for the House majority leader’s job. They are Reps. Duane Ankney of Colstrip and Tom McGillvray and Ken Peterson, both of Billings.

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from Brainerddispatch.com:

The new Republican majorities at the Minnesota Capitol applied their desire to scale back government on Tuesday by significantly cutting the number of legislative committees as they prepare to take power in January.

House Speaker-designate Kurt Zellers and incoming Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch unveiled a slimmed-down committee roster at a joint news conference, saying the new setup will make it easier for people to follow the legislative process and free lawmakers to spend more time with constituents.

Their plan establishes 24 committees in the House and 16 in the Senate, down by more than a third from a proliferation of panels under the departing Democratic leadership. Voters earlier this month overturned nearly four decades of Democratic rule in the Senate and unseated a four-year Democratic House majority.

“We have reformed government, starting with ourselves. This is what voters expect of us, this is what they demanded — that we get in there and start with ourselves first,” said Zellers, a Republican from Maple Grove.

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From Indystar.com:

Even as they celebrated their new dominance of the Indiana General Assembly, Republicans gave away a small piece of their power Tuesday, as the new House Speaker Brian Bosma said he’s naming two Democrats to head committees.

Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said it was a first in Indiana, where the election victors usually get to claim all the spoils.

It’s not, though, unprecedented nationwide. Karl Kurtz, a spokesman for the National Conference of State Legislatures, said at least two other states — Texas and Louisiana — have minority party members heading committees. It used to be more common, he said, “but as legislatures have become more partisan, it’s not in as much practice as it used to be.”

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