This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sen. Jerry Stevenson got a promotion to a top spot on the Legislature's budget committee and veteran Sen. John Valentine was chosen as the new chairman of the powerful Rules Committee as incoming President Wayne Neiderhauser announced committee shake-ups Friday.
The two posts are the top assignments that the Senate president gets to hand out. Stevenson, R-Layton, replaces Sen. Kevin Van Tassell, R-Vernal, who moves to the transportation committee. Valentine, R-Orem, replaces Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, who will chair the government operations committee.
Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, will continue to serve as chairman of the budget committee.
A few rookies in the Senate got tapped to lead committees — Sen. Brian Shiozawa as the chairman of the Business, Economic Development and Labor budget panel and Sen. Deidre Henderson, R-Provo, as chairwoman of the Revenue and Taxation Committee.
Henderson replaces Sen. Curt Bramble, who moves to Business and Labor Committee.
Sen. Stuart Reid, R-Ogden, will take over the Senate Education Committee, replacing Sen. Aaron Osmond, R-South Jordan, who will be in charge of the Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee.
The committee assignments are often viewed as a way for a new leader to reward those who supported him (or her) and punish those in the other camp.
House Speaker Becky Lockhart, R-Provo, announced her committee assignments last week, putting Rep. Brad Wilson on the budget committee and Rep. Dean Sanpei in charge of the Rules Committee. Rep. Ryan Wilcox, who had been vice-chairman of Rules, will be the chairman of the Revenue and Taxation Committee.
If you're a die-hard, the full list of Senate committee assignments is available through this link. The House standing committee assignments are available here. House appropriation committee assignments are available here.
— Robert GehrkeTwitter: @RobertGehrke