There will be new faces in leadership roles for the Alabama House of Representatives, with House Speaker-designate Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) making the announcement on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the Republican House caucus voted in favor of Ledbetter assuming the Speaker's position, a vacancy left by the retired House Speaker Mac McCutcheon (R-Monrovia).
While the Speaker's position must be selected by House members of both parties, the Republican supermajority makes the decision a relative certainty.
Some familiar faces will resume their chairman roles from the prior session, including State Rep. Danny Garrett (R-Trussville) as chair of the Ways & Means Education budget committee and State Rep. Jim Hill (R-Odenville) as chair of the Judiciary Committee. However, State Rep. Joe Lovvorn (R-Auburn) will chair the agenda-setting Rules Committee, assuming the role previously held by former State Rep. Mike Jones (R-Andalusia), who ran for State Senate in District 31 but lost the Republican primary to now-State Sen. Josh Carnley (R-Enterprise).
Also, State Rep. Rex Reynolds (R-Huntsville) will chair the Way & Means General Fund Committee, replacing long-time State Rep. Steve Clouse (R-Ozark), who challenged Ledbetter for the Speaker's role but came up short.
"I am confident that each of these members will serve our state well and invite new ideas and fresh perspectives to the committees they chair," Ledbetter said. "All of them possess unique skills, talents, experiences, and abilities that make them uniquely qualified to chair the committees they will be assigned to lead."
Ledbetter has been in the House as the representative for District 24 since November 2014 and has served as the House Majority Leader since 2017. He lost a House race in 2010 as a Democrat but won the subsequent election after switching parties, much like his predecessor.
Garrett has been in the legislature since 2014. He was appointed chairman of the education budget committee to replace former State Rep. Bill Poole (R-Tuscaloosa), who left to serve in the Ivey administration as the state's budget director. The education budget committee annually allocates more than $8 billion in state funding to K-12 public schools, community colleges and public universities across Alabama.
Lovvorn, who will head the committee that decides which bills and measures will be considered on the floor, is a retired firefighter. He is currently a realtor and small business owner first elected to his seat in the Alabama House of Representatives during a special election in September 2016.
Hill, who was first elected to the Alabama House in 2014, originally assumed the chairmanship of the House Judiciary Committee in 2017.
He was previously elected as a district judge in St. Clair County in 1994 and as a circuit judge in 2004.
Elected to the Alabama Legislature in 2018, Reynolds previously served as a member of the House Ways and Means General Fund budget-writing committee, which distributes almost $3 billion in funding among Alabama's non-education state agencies yearly.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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