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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spin Control

House Republicans, Senate Democrats make assignments

OLYMPIA -- Legislative caucuses continued to assign members to committee and internal leadership posts as the countdown to the 2015 session continues.

On Thursday, the two minority caucuses, House Republicans and Senate Democrats, announced some of their spots;

Andy Billig is the only Senate Democrat in the Spokane area. He'll be the deputy minority leader in the Senate and assigned to both the Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee and the Ways & Means Committee.

House Republicans from the Spokane area, of which there are many, got several top spots, known as "ranking member" and No. 2 spots "assistant ranking" as their caucus announced committee assignments. The full list is inside the blog, with Spokane reps in italics. Click here to check it out, or to comment.

House Republican Leader Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish, named members of House committees from the House Republican Caucus today. He also appointed ranking members of the committees to take the lead for the caucus on various issues before the Legislature. The committee appointments are as follows:

Agriculture & Natural Resources
Buys (Ranking), Dent (Assistant Ranking), Chandler, Kretz, Orcutt, Schmick

Appropriations
Chandler (Ranking), Wilcox (Assistant Ranking), Parker (Assistant Ranking), Buys, Condotta, Dent, Fagan, Haler, Hunt, MacEwen, Magendanz, Schmick, Stokesbary, Taylor, Van Werven

Business & Financial Services
Vick (Ranking), Parker (Assistant Ranking), Hunt, Kochmar, McCabe

Capital Budget
DeBolt (Ranking), Smith (Assistant Ranking), Kochmar, Walsh

Commerce & Gaming
Condotta (Ranking), Holy (Assistant Ranking), Scott, Vick

Community Development, Housing & Tribal Affairs
Johnson (Ranking), Zeiger (Assistant Ranking), Hawkins

Early Learning & Human Services
Walsh (Ranking), Scott (Assistant Ranking), Dent, Hawkins, McCaslin

Education
Magendanz (Ranking), Muri (Assistant Ranking), Stambaugh (Assistant Ranking), Caldier, Fagan, Griffey, Hargrove, Hayes, Klippert, McCaslin

Environment
Shea (Ranking), Short (Assistant Ranking), Harris, Pike, Taylor

Finance
Nealey (Ranking), Orcutt (Assistant Ranking), Condotta, Manweller, Stokesbary, Wilcox

General Government & Information Technology
MacEwen (Ranking), Caldier (Assistant Ranking), McCabe

Health Care & Wellness
Schmick (Ranking), Harris (Assistant Ranking), Caldier, DeBolt, Johnson, Rodne, 

Higher Education
Zeiger (Ranking), Haler (Assistant Ranking), Hargrove, Holy, Stambaugh, Van Werven

Judiciary
Rodne (Ranking), Shea (Assistant Ranking), Haler, Klippert, Muri, Stokesbary

Labor
Manweller (Ranking), Hunt (Assistant Ranking), McCabe

Local Government
Taylor (Ranking), Griffey (Assistant Ranking), McCaslin, Pike

Public Safety
Klippert (Ranking), Hayes (Assistant Ranking), Griffey, Wilson

State Government
Holy (Ranking), Van Werven (Assistant Ranking), Hawkins

Technology & Economic Development
Smith (Ranking), DeBolt (Assistant Ranking), Harmsworth, Magendanz, Nealey, Young

Transportation
Orcutt (Ranking), Hargrove (Assistant Ranking), Harmsworth, Hayes, Kochmar, Pike, Rodne, Shea, Wilson, Young, Zeiger

Rules
Kristiansen (Ranking), Kretz (Assistant Ranking), Haler, Harmsworth, Harris, Short, Stambaugh, Wilcox, Young, Zeiger



Jim Camden
Jim Camden joined The Spokesman-Review in 1981 and retired in 2021. He is currently the political and state government correspondent covering Washington state.

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