State House and Senate Democrats have yet to make any announcements on committee assignments, but one committee they may want to start moving on sooner rather than later is the Joint Ways and Means Committee.
The committee, which consists of members from both the state House and Senate, will be in charge of the budget. After Wednesday's budget prediction, which revealed that legislators will have around $850 million less to work with in the 2009 session, being in charge of the state budget is an important, if bleak, role.
Even before ways and means begins to deal with the state's fiscal picture, Democrats need to focus on replacing the committee's two outgoing co-chairs, Sen. Kurt Schrader (D-Canby) and Rep. Mary Nolan (D-Portland).
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