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Office of the Senate President

 

900 Court St., N.E., Room S-201

Salem OR  97301

www.leg.state.or.us/senate/senpres

 

 

News Release

 

Contact:    Robin Maxey                                                                  January 12, 2010

                   (503) 986-1605   

                   robin.maxey@state.or.us                                                             

 

Shields, Kruse Appointed to Ways and Means

Committee; Courtney to Remain Co-Chair

(SALEM) – Senate President Peter Courtney today announced the appointment of Senators Chip Shields, D-Portland, and Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg, to the Legislature’s Joint Ways and Means Committee.

 

Courtney, D-Salem/Gervais/Woodburn, will remain as Senate –Co Chair of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, he also announced today.

 

“Senator Shields brings budget writing experience from the House and a commitment to fighting for working families and the underserved to the committee. Senator Kruse is a veteran lawmaker who has displayed a dedicated work ethic throughout his career,” Courtney said. “The addition of a Portland Democrat and a Roseburg Republican will help maintain both the urban-rural and political balance on the Ways and Means Committee.”

 

The appointments expand Senate membership on the joint committee to 12, equaling the number of House members on the body which crafts the state budget.

 

Shields previously served on the budget writing body as a member of the House of Representatives. During the 2009 Session, Shields served as the House co-chair of the Ways and Means Sub-Committee on Public Safety.

 

Kruse is vice chair of both the Senate Health Care and Veterans Affairs Committee and the  Education and General Government Committee. He is leaving his position on the Human Services and Rural Health Policy Committee.

 

Courtney also announced Tuesday that Senator Chris Telfer, R-Bend, has been named the vice chair of the Senate Human Services and Rural Health Policy Committee and that Senator Jackie Winters, R-Salem, is replacing Kruse as a member of the Human Services and Rural Health Policy Committee.