Local lawmakers pleased with committee assignments

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer
    AUGUSTA — Maine House and Senate leaders announced their committee assignments last week as the 127th Maine Legislature prepares to get down to business on Jan. 2.
    The Maine Legislature has 17 standing committees that meet regularly when lawmakers are in session. Some committees continue to meet after adjournment, depending on their workload and whether an attempt is made to override a gubernatorial veto.
    Republicans are the majority party in the Senate while Democrats still hold the upper hand in the House.
    Locally, Sen. Paul Davis of Sangerville is the new Senate chair of the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee and will also serve on the Taxation, Joint Select Committee on Rules and Government Oversight committees.

    Sen. Rodney Whittemore of Skowhegan, whose district includes Rockwood and Seboomook Lake, returns as Senate chair of the Insurance and Financial Services Committee.
    Rep. Paul Stearns of Guilford will serve on the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee; Rep. Norman Higgins of Dover-Foxcroft has been appointed to the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee and Rep. Ray Wallace of Dexter will return to the Insurance and Financial Services Committee.
    Stearns and Higgins are serving their first terms in the Legislature while Wallace was reelected for his third term in House District 104.
    Davis told the Observer that while serving on three committees “is quite a load to carry, I feel that hunting, fishing and outdoor issues are very important to District 4. So I’m very happy to chair that committee.”
    Davis said that he also requested to be appointed to the Taxation Committee and had served on the Government Oversight panel during the last session when he was in the House of Representatives. “The governor has stated that he wants to lower the income tax, so I’d like to be part of that process,” said Davis. “While we have a divided legislature, we have to forget about party affiliations and work for our constituents.”
    Higgins said he was glad to get his committee assignment. “Every day in Maine and Piscataquis County we are impacted by rising costs for electricity, inadequate communication systems and limited access to broadband Internet services,” Higgins wrote. “Our seniors struggle with the costs of heating their homes, our business community is challenged with escalating electrical costs and our families are facing increased expenses for electricity, heating and Internet services.”
    Higgins added that “reducing energy costs and expanding broadband internet access for new business development is a major priority.
    “I will be meeting with local business, municipal, and community leaders asking for ideas as we work in Augusta on these key issues. “ 
    Rep. Larry Dunphy of Embden — whose district includes Kingsbury Plantation and Wellington — also serves on the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee.
    Stearns, like Higgins, is a veteran educator and said that he was “looking forward to working with my colleagues on the education committee.  It is a veteran committee, with many of the individuals having previous experience with Education and Cultural Affairs.”
    The Guilford Republican added that local school boards, teachers and administrators “are institutionally fatigued by a never-ending and constantly changing list of expensive state and federal mandates. The school funding formula, known as Essential Programs and Services, needs some long overdue adjustments as well. Local property owners cannot continue to absorb shifts in state responsibilities.”
    Wallace will be the ranking Republican on the Insurance and Financial Services Committee and said that he was happy to have served with Whittemore on the panel for last two years “and I am very pleased that he will serve as the chair of the committee.”
    For legislative schedules and contact information for all Maine House legislators, visit http://legislature.maine.gov.