The 108th Legislature

The 108th Legislature has begun. The legislative session began on January 4 and will extend through the month of May. This will be the longer 90-day session. The reason for the longer session has to do with passing the Statewide budget.

On the first day of the session in odd numbered years we always elect a speaker and the chairmen of the standing committees. Out of the 14 committee chairs elected there were only three positions that had more than one candidate. 11 of the 14 committee chairpersons were unopposed. For the past two years the education chairman had been Sen. Lynn Walz of Fremont,...