Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Ross Tabbed For Joint Committee

Senator Mike Ross of Prescott was named chairman of the Joint Committee on Children and Youth during the Senate's organizational meeting.

Ross also became vice chairman of the Senate Committee on City, County and Local Affairs, and he retained his position as a membear of the Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor.

"I am very pleased with my committee assignments," Ross said. "Being chairman of the Children and Youth Committee calls for a lot of hard work, but it's work that will make a positive difference in the lives of Arkansas children. I'm really looking forward to the challenge."

The Children and Youth Committee was formed in 1987 to consolidate decision making on children's issues, because so many young people who needed state services were falling through the cracks of the bureaucratic system.

"In light of welfare reform and other federal measures designed to reduce government spending, the work of the Children and Youth Committee will be critical," Ross said.

Ross gained valuable experience working with young people when he served as executive director of Arkansas Youth Suicide Prevention Commission.

The Committee on City, County and Local Affairs considers legislation affecting local governments, including improvement districts, municipalities and county government. Ross also brings experience to the assignment because he was a member of the Nevada County Quorum Court from 1983 to 1985.

"I have always tried to protect local governments from unfunded mandates handed down from Little Rock, and being vice chairman of the Local Affairs Committee will help me to keep state government from shirking its fiscal responsibilities and trying to pass them off onto local governments," he said.

As a member of the Public Health Committee, Ross will review proposed legislation affecting the medical industry, environmental regulations, labor relations and public health programs. The committee is expected to consider some of the most difficult bills to be filed in the 1997 session.

"I've learned from my past experience on the Public Health Committee that we'll face tough issues and we'll have to make hard decisions," Ross said.

"This committee can be a pressure cooker, but that's because the bills before public Health affect so many people, ands because the medical industry is rapidly changing. Our goal is to make quality health care affordable and accessible to everyone, whether they live in a rural area or a big city," he concluded.

Ross also was named to the Joint Performance Review Committee, which monitors the operations of state agencies to ensure that they are spending appropriations efficiently.

Ross will be a member of the State Rules Committee, which decides parliamentary disputes over procedures on the Senate floor. Its rulings can greatly influence the success or failure of bills, especially bills that are controversial.

Ross represents Senate District Three, which comprises Nevada County and parts of Columbia, Clark and Ouachita Counties.