Majority leader names committee chairs

By David McGrath Schwartz (contact)

Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008 | 3:35 p.m.

Sen. Majority Leader Steven Horsford announced committee chairs Thursday, bypassing senior Democrat Bob Coffin on the influential Finance Committee and naming himself and Sen. Bernice Mathews, D-Reno, as co-chairs.

Coffin, seen by some as too liberal and unpredictable for the top post on the committee that reviews expenditures, was named as head of the Taxation Committee, which covers the revenue side of the state budget.

Horsford and the Democrats assumed the majority when Democrats Allison Copening and Shirley Breeden unseated Republican incumbents Bob Beers and Joe Heck, respectively, on Nov. 4.

Mathews has been a senator since 1995, and has been a member of finance for more than a decade.

Coffin said he was disappointed that he was not named chair of Finance. "I guess (Horsford) thought I'd be happy chairing tax."

He also questioned why Clark County was sharing the chairmanship with Northern Nevada. Sen. Bill Raggio, who had been the long-time Senate Majority Leader but is now the Senate Minority leader, has long been perceived as a protector of northern interests, even as the population base tilted overwhelmingly to Southern Nevada.

Horsford, in a news conference with reporters Thursday, addressed that.

"I'm going to be co-chair because we must end any suggestion, real or perceived, that there's a north-south split. We all have to work together," he said. Horsford has not sat on Finance before, but said he had experience working on the budget through the June Special Session and in negotiations.

He stressed that the state needed to go through the budget in a "deliberate and methodical" manner to look at expenditures. But he did not rule out raising taxes.

Horsford said it would be his priorities to look at expanding health coverage for children and seniors, as well as investing money in renewable energy projects.

"We have to do what makes sense, what we can get done in 120 days, and that doesn't decimate state services," he said.

Asked about Gov. Jim Gibbons comments earlier this week that the Assembly and Senate could override his veto to pass a tax increase, Horsford said he would wait until he meets with the governor.

Sen. Michael Schneider, D- will become the President Pro. Tem of the Senate.

That puts him third in line to be governor; when the governor and lieutenant governor are out of the state, he will have gubernatorial authority. That position was previously held by Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, who filled that role a few times since Gibbons took office in 2007.

The full list of committee assignments are not finalized because Raggio is still tweaking his list, Horsford said.

The full list of committee leadership positions are as follows:

Finance: Co-Chairs -- Senator Bernice Mathews, Senator Steven Horsford

Judiciary: Chair, Senator Terry Care -- Vice Chair, Senator Valerie Wiener

Transportation, Energy and Infrastructure: Chair, Senator Michael Schneider -- Vice Chair, Senator Maggie Carlton

Commerce and Labor: Chair, Senator Maggie Carlton -- Vice Chair, Senator Michael Schneider

Government Affairs: Chair, Senator John Lee -- Vice Chair, Senator Terry Care

Health and Education: Chair, Senator Valerie Wiener -- Vice Chair, Senator Joyce Woodhouse

Legislative Operations and Elections: Chair, Senator Joyce Woodhouse, Senator Bernice Mathews

Taxation: Chair, Senator Bob Coffin, Senator Terry Care

Natural Resources: Chair, Senator David Parks -- Vice Chair, Senator Allison Copening