Del. Mark Keam Picks Up Key Committee Assignment

While there are several Democrats in the state Senate who are losing committee appointments due to the power grab made by the Republican leadership, it looks like there’s at least a few Democrats in the House who are picking up some big committee assignments. Delegate Mark Keam, for instance was added to the House Education Committee, which complements his continuing service on the House Finance Committee.

These are some rather big committee appointments because the education reforms that Governor Bob McDonnell proposed have already garnered a fair amount of attention. In the Democratic response to the State of the Commonwealth, for instance, both Sen. George Barker and Sen. Don McEachin spoke about how we needed both parties to come together to protect funding for our public schools. Barker even said “we are concerned that aspects of the budget Governor McDonnell has put forth will damage Virginia and our economy by cutting hundreds of millions from public education and critical initiatives for children and families.”

In other words, there could be some serious fights in the Education Committee. For his part, however, Keam seems to be up for the fight and knows protecting public education is extremely important.

“As a product of public schools, I am convinced that I would not be where I am today without the great education I received, and I will use my position on the House Education Committee to ensure that Virginia public schools remain the best in the nation,” Keam said earlier today. He then went on to say “education and transportation have been my top two priorities throughout my two campaigns and in my time in Richmond, and I am eager to make progress for our constituents on both of these topics during this session.”