Newly elected and reelected state senators, including Sen. Lou Ann Linehan (center), are sworn in during the first day of the 2021 legislative session Wednesday.
JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
Senators cast a second secret ballot for the Education Committee chair during the first day of the 2021 legislative session in 2021. Sen. Lynne Walz won, replacing Sen. Mike Groene as the chair.
Sen. Mark Kolterman of Seward will succeed former Lincoln Sen. Kate Bolz as a member of the Legislature's state budget-writing Appropriations Committee.
Bolz was term-limited out of the Legislature and was the 2020 Democratic nominee for the 1st District House seat.
That was one of the key decisions made during a lengthy meeting of the Legislature's Committee on Committees as senators organized upon the launch of their 2021 legislative session.
Among committee assignments was a slot on the Revenue Committee for Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk, former Speaker of the Legislature, who is back in the lawmaking body after being term-limited for eight years.
The Committee on Committees session was drama-free in contrast to an occasionally fiery meeting in the recent past.
While the Appropriations Committee membership remains stable with the exception of the addition of Kolterman, the tax-writing Revenue Committee will have three new members while continuing to be led by Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn.ÌýÌý
Appropriations:ÌýJohn Stinner of Gering (chair); Robert Clements of Elmwood; Myron Dorn of Adams; Steve Erdman of Bayard; Robert Hilkemann,ÌýMike McDonnell and Tony Vargas, all of Omaha; Kolterman; Anna Wishart of Lincoln.
Education: Lynne Walz of Fremont (chair); Tom Brandt of Plymouth; Jen Day of Gretna; Linehan, Terrell McKinney of Omaha; Dave Murman of Glenvil; Adam Morfeld and Patty Pansing Brooks, both of Lincoln.
Health and Human Services: John Arch of La Vista (chair); Machaela Cavanaugh and Jen Day, both of Omaha; Ben Hansen of Blair;Ìý Dave Murman of Glenvil; Lynne Walz of Fremont; and Matt Williams of Gothenburg.
Judiciary: Steve Lathrop of Omaha (chair); Ray Aguilar of Grand Island; Tom Brandt of Plymouth; Wendy DeBoer of Bennington; Terrell McKinney of Omaha; Adam Morfeld and Pansing Brooks, both of Lincoln; Julie Slama of Peru.
Revenue:ÌýLinehan (chair), Joni Albrecht of Thurston; Eliot Bostar of Lincoln; Tom Briese of Albion; Flood; Curt Friesen of Henderson; Brett Lindstrom and John McCollister, both of Omaha.
Newly elected and reelected state senators, including Sen. Lou Ann Linehan (center), are sworn in during the first day of the 2021 legislative session Wednesday.
Senators cast a second secret ballot for the Education Committee chair during the first day of the 2021 legislative session in 2021. Sen. Lynne Walz won, replacing Sen. Mike Groene as the chair.