Dave Schmidt is not only moving from the state House of Representatives to the Senate, it appears he’s moving from the minority to the majority.
Schmidt, the veteran Republican House member from Mill Creek, is taking over in the Senate after edging Democrat Paul Doerflein for a seat left vacant when Republican mainstay Jeanine Long retired.
If Republicans hold slim leads in two races in Whatcom and Kitsap counties, Schmidt will be part of a 25-24 GOP majority in the Senate. In the House, Democrats will continue their majority party status with leads for 53 of the 99 seats.
Schmidt said he spoke with likely Senate Majority leader Sen. Jim West of Spokane on Tuesday. “We’re talking about a complete restructuring of the committee leadership,” Schmidt said. The Senate Republican Caucus is scheduled to meet today, Friday, Nov. 15, in Olympia to begin the work and select committee chairs, Schmidt said.
“I would like Ways and Means,” he said of the committee that holds the purse strings in the Senate. Schmidt said he’s also interested in continuing the work he had been doing in the House on the state and local government panel.
Schmidt said that regardless of his committee assignments, economic development and addressing the state’s $2.6 billion budget deficit will be one of his top priorities. “Jobs provide revenue,” he said.
“It is time to change how we do business and to make this a state where business wants to come,” Schmidt said.
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