AUGUSTA — State lawmakers from Lewiston and Auburn received legislative committee assignments that will give them a say on everything from highway bridges to health insurance.
Among them is a seat on the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee for first-term Lewiston Democrat Roger Fuller, an assignment the city’s School Committee hoped someone would get.
State Rep. Jared Golden, one of the House leaders, said it is “a high-level committee assignment and one that Lewiston has not received in a number of years.”
Three returning legislators, two Democrats and a Republican, will serve on the committees where they have previous experience.
The sole GOP House member from either city, Bruce Bickford of Auburn, will continue to hold a seat on the Taxation Committee, an assignment he wanted to keep.
On the Democratic side, Heidi Brooks of Lewiston and Gina Melaragno are returning to the Insurance and Financial Services Committee that oversees banking and related policy areas. Both had expressed a desire to remain on the panel.
Democrat James Handy of Lewiston, in his first term since a previous legislative stint a generation ago, was given a seat on the Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee, an assignment he sought.
Fuller’s committee oversees the state Department of Education, along with the university and community college system, the Maine Arts Commission, Maine State Library, Maine State Museum and Maine Public Broadcasting Corp. It’s an assignment he asked for and Golden helped secure after hearing from school advocates in Lewiston.
Rep. Bettyann Sheats, an Auburn Democrat whose district also includes Minot, will serve on the Transportation Committee. She had hoped for a seat on the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee.
A list of committee members can be found at www.maine.gov/legis/house/jtcomlst.htm.
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