BRIEF: Promotions for midstate lawmakers

Jan. 14--One of the first items of business in the state Legislature is choosing who will serve on each committee and who will chair them. It takes days of closed-door meetings.

Some committees, like, say, Rules, are rather more sought-after than others. The rules committees decide which bills to send to the House and Senate floors. Appropriations committees will hold hearings on a state budget that will total about $25 billion this year.

And the chairs of other committees are pretty important gatekeepers, too: they decide if a bill assigned to their committee gets a hearing at all.

Two midstate lawmakers are going to take on committee chairmanships this year. State Rep. Bubber Epps, R-Dry Branch, a retired paving contractor, will chair the House Motor Vehicles Committee. State Sen. Burt Jones, R-Jackson, who founded an insurance brokerage, will chair the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee.

Rep. Robert Dickey, a Musella Republican, will chair the Education subcommittee of Appropriations.

Maggie Lee: @maggie_a_lee

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