Legislative committees take shape

Senate President Justin Alfond and House Speaker Mark Eves have assigned their members to the Legislature’s 17 standing committees, ending speculation around the State House about which lawmakers would end up in charge of key committees.

The full committee list is available here.

A few notes:

  • Rep. Peggy Rotundo of Lewiston and Sen. Dawn Hill of York will chair the powerful, budget-writing Appropriations Committee. Both Democrats served on the committee during the last legislative session. Sen. Pat Flood, R-Winthrop, who chaired the panel as a House member during the last Legislature, will remain on the panel. Rep. Kathleen Chase of Wells will be the panel’s ranking Republican.
  • There are 19 Senate Democrats, 17 of whom serve on committees since top leadership generally don’t take committee posts. Coincidentally, there are 17 legislative committees, meaning each Senate Democrat gets a committee chairmanship.
  • Here’s a look at a number of first-time Democratic senators who won closely watched, competitive races: Sen. Geoff Gratwick of Bangor, who defeated former Sen. Nichi Farnham, will chair the Insurance and Financial Services Committee; Sen. Colleen Lachowicz of Waterville, who won her seat from former Sen. Tom Martin, will chair the State and Local Government Committee; Sen. John Cleveland of Auburn, who beat former Sen. Lois Snowe-Mello, will chair the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee; Sen. Jim Boyle of Scarborough, who didn’t defeat an incumbent but won a closely watched race over Republican Ruth Summers, will chair the Environment and Natural Resources Committee; and Sen. Ed Mazurek of Rockland, who defeated former Sen. Chris Rector, will lead the Transportation Committee, the committee he served on during his last term in the House.