Hovey Receives Committee Assignments

As the General Assembly’s 2007 Session gets underway, State Representative DebraLee Hovey (R-112th District) has been appointed by House Republican Leader Lawrence Cafero (R-142) as House Ranking Member of the General Assembly’s Education Committee. She was elected to her third term representing the 112th District, which is comprised of Monroe and sections of Newtown, in November.

Ranking members serve as the caucus leader on issues before that committee. The Education Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to the Department of Education; local and regional boards of education and the substantive law of collective bargaining covering teachers and professional employees of such boards; vocational rehabilitation; the Commission on the Arts; and libraries, museums, and historical and cultural associations.

Rep Hovey will also serve as a member of the General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee and Judiciary Committee — two of the Legislature’s busiest committees. According to a 2006 report from the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Research, the top-ranked committees in activity last year were: Judiciary, Appropriations, Environment, Energy and Technology, and Labor and Public Employees.

The Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over the state’s judicial system including criminal penalties, the appointment of judges, and the Department of Corrections. The Appropriations Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to appropriations and the budgets of state agencies.