The Alaska Senate has announced who will serve on its committees for the next two years.
Bethel Democrat Sen. Lyman Hoffman has joined the Senate majority caucus, and will retain his coveted seat on the Senate Finance Committee.
This ensures the mostly-Republican Senate majority will have at least one Democrat for the seventh straight year. Hoffman has been the only majority Democrat since 2017.
All of the other members of the Finance Committee are returning.
Hoffman will also serve as the only Senate Democrat on the Legislative Council and the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee, bodies that draw membership from both the House and Senate. Senate minority members objected, saying it leaves them without representation on two important committees.
On Thursday, the House again failed to organize a majority, or to pick a temporary or permanent speaker. Its next scheduled floor session is on Monday.
The Senate committee chairs will be:
- Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, Community and Regional Affairs;
- Sen. Roger Holland, R-Anchorage, Education;
- Sen. Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks, capital budget Finance co-chair, and Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, operating budget Finance co-chair;
- Sen. David Wilson, R-Wasilla, Health and Social Services;
- Sen. Lora Reinbold, R-Eagle River, Judiciary;
- Sen. Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, Labor and Commerce;
- Sen. Josh Revak, R-Anchorage, Resources;
- Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, Rules;
- Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, State Affairs;
- Sen. Robert Myers, R-North Pole, Transportation; and
- Sen. Natasha von Imhof, R-Anchorage, Legislative Budget and Audit.
Senators serving on each committee are listed on the Legislature’s website.
Andrew Kitchenman is the state government and politics reporter for Alaska Public Media and KTOO in Juneau. Reach him at akitchenman@alaskapublic.org.
