Republicans will continue to lead important committees in the Suffolk Legislature this year, though Democrats still will be the majority on each committee.
Presiding Officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook) pretty much stuck to the status quo in making committee assignments. The 11 committees will be led by the same people who led them last year - including Jay Schneiderman (R-Montauk) for Public Works and Transportation; Lynne Nowick (R-St. James) for Parks and Recreation, and Cameron Alden (R-Islip) for Consumer Protection.
There had been speculation that one or all of these Republicans might lose their chairmanships because of lingering resentments over the 2007 budget process.
James T. Madore
“I renew my pledge to all of you to lead the legislature in a manner that recognizes the majority while respecting the minority,” Lindsay said at the Jan. 2 organizational meeting. He has sole power to make committee assignments.
And while the chairmen haven’t changed, Lindsay did change the vice chairs of seven committees. The biggest shakeup was in Consumer Protection, where chairman Alden is the only returning member on the five-member panel.
Legis. Joseph T. Caracappa (R-Selden), the former presiding officer who is serving his final year because of term limits, has increased his committee participation to two. Last year, he had initially requested not to be placed on any committees but eventually joined Public Safety. He will stay on that committee and now serve on Public Works.
There also is a new 7-member group, the Ad Hoc Contract Agency Oversight Committee, charged with improving the budget process including how grants are awarded to not-for-profits groups. Lindsay said he would chair this committee, which is expected to hold its first meeting Feb. 8.
The other members of the Contracts committee are Alden; Jon Cooper (D-Lloyd Harbor), the majority leader; Daniel P. Losquadro (R-Shoreham), the minority leader; Ricardo Montano (D-Central Islip); Louis D’Amaro (D-North Babylon), and Lynne Nowick (R-St. James).
Here is the membership of the other 11 committees and meeting times, which will start the week of Jan. 29: (All convene in the legislative building on Veteran Memorial Highway in Hauppauge.)
Labor, Workforce & Affordable Housing – Mondays @ 11:30 a.m.
Kate M. Browning (WFP-Shirley), chairwoman
Montano, vice chairman
John M. Kennedy Jr. (R-Nesconset)
Losquadro
Vivian Viloria-Fisher (D-Setauket), deputy presiding officer
Environment, Planning & Agriculture – Mondays @ 1 p.m.
Viloria-Fisher, chairwoman
D’Amaro, vice chairman
Wayne R. Horsley (D-Babylon)
Kennedy
Losquadro
Budget & Finance – Tuesdays @ 9:30 a.m.
Montano, chairman
Cooper, vice chairman
Alden
Schneiderman
Steven H. Stern (D-Dix Hills)
Veterans & Seniors – Tuesdays @ 1 p.m.
Stern, chairman
Jack Eddington (WFP-Medford), vice chairman
Alden
Cooper
Schneiderman
Public Works & Transportation – Tuesdays @ 2 p.m.
Schneiderman, chairman
Stern, vice chairman
Caracappa
Eddington
Montano
Ways & Means – Wednesdays @ 9:30 a.m.
D’Amaro, chairman
Montano, vice chairman
Thomas F. Barraga (R-West Islip)
Browning
Edward P. Romaine (R-Center Moriches)
Parks & Recreation – Wednesdays @ 1 p.m.
Nowick, chairperson
Viloria-Fisher, vice chairperson
Browning
D’Amaro
Romaine
Economic Development, Higher Education & Energy – Wednesdays @ 2 p.m.
Horsley, chairman
Stern, vice chairman
Barraga
Romaine
Viloria-Fisher
Public Safety – Thursdays @ 9:30 a.m.
Eddington, chairman
Browning, vice chairman
Caracappa
Horsley
Losquadro
Elie Mystal (D-Amityville)
Nowick
Consumer Protection – Thursdays @ 1 p.m.
Alden, chairman
Eddington, vice chairman
Horsley
Kennedy
Mystal
Health & Human Services – Thursdays @ 2 p.m.
Mystal, chairman
Horsley, vice chairman
Eddington
Kennedy
Nowick