Hise
RALEIGH — North Carolina Republican Senator Ralph Hise, a Mitchell County resident and native, will serve as co-chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, chamber leader Phil Berger said on Thursday, Jan. 7.
Hise joins Sens. Brent Jackson and Kathy Harrington as co-chairs on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“I want to thank Sen. Hise for being willing to serve as a chairman for the Committee on Appropriations/Base Budget,” Berger said. “His expertise will be invaluable as we return to Raleigh to work on behalf of all North Carolinians.”
Sen. Warren Daniel of Burke County is a new Senate Finance Committee chairman and other finance co-chairs include Sens. Paul Newton and Bill Rabon.
Hise also served as a finance co-chairman during the previous session and fills the budget committee spot previously occupied by Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown, who did not run for reelection.
“Our state will continue to face many challenges in this upcoming budget due to the impact of COVID and the governor’s shutdown of many sectors of our economy,” Hise said. “I look forward to keeping our state on the fiscally responsible track we have laid the groundwork for over the past decade and am honored to serve in this important leadership role that has been absent a voice from Western North Carolina for a long time.”
Harrington was tabbed as the new majority leader in Brown’s stead.
Additionally, Hise will join Daniel as chairmen of the Senate Redistricting Committee.
The North Carolina General Assembly will soon redraw congressional and legislative maps based on the latest round of available census data. The maps are redrawn with each census, and sometimes more frequently, as population changes and equal representation balances shift.
Republicans, which have held the chamber since 2011, occupy a majority (28 of 50) Senate seats as the next two-year session begins this month.
As has been the norm under Republican-led sessions in the state, no Democratic Senators occupy chair positions.
North Carolina Senators serve two-year terms. The Lieutenant Governor is President of the Senate and presides over the daily session.
The Lieutenant Governor is elected by the citizens for a four-year term and has no vote in the Senate, except to break a tie. Republican Mark Robinson was elected as the next Lieutenant Governor and was sworin in during a ceremony on Monday, Jan. 4.