RALEIGH — Richmond County’s delegate in the North Carolina Senate will serve on four interim committees prior to the upcoming legislative session.
Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, president pro tem of the state senate, announced the appointments in a press release Dec. 6, naming Sen. Dave Craven, R-Randolph, as co-chair of one of the four committees he’s been assigned to.
According to the release, Craven will serve as co-chair of the Joint Legislative Economic Development and Global Engagement Oversight Committee.
Craven will also serve on the Joint Legislative Commission on Energy Policy, Environmental Review Commission, and Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Information Technology.
Legislative records show Craven will be new to the Environmental Review Commission and already serves as a member of the committee he will co-chair, as well as the other two committees.
“These committees are tasked with studying a variety of issues facing North Carolinians. The work these committees accomplish during the interim will help inform our priorities for the upcoming legislative session,” Berger said in a statement. “I appreciate my colleagues’ dedication to serving on these committees and look forward to seeing their hard work come to fruition.”
Other committees listed in the release include: the Joint Legislative Administrative Procedure Oversight Committee; Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources; Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Capital Improvements; Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee; Joint Legislative Elections Oversight Committee; Joint Legislative Emergency Management Oversight Committee; Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on General Government; Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services; Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety; Legislative Research Commission; Legislative Services Commission; Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Local Government; Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on the North Carolina State Lottery; Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Medicaid and NC Health Choice; Municipal Incorporations Subcommittee of the Joint Legislative Committee on Local Government; Revenue Laws Study Committee; Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee; and Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Unemployment Insurance.
Ellerbe native Sen. Tom McInnis, R-Moore, was reappointed co-chair of the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee, and will serve on three other committees.
McInnis represented Richmond County in the state Senate from 2015 until the county was placed in a different district. He switched his residency to Moore County.
Craven was appointed in the summer of 2020 to fill out the remainder of the term vacated by the resignation of Sen. Jerry Tillman, and was elected to the seat the following November, then re-elected to the recently redrawn 29th Senate District after defeating Democratic challenger Brooke Crump.
The 29th Senate District now includes all of Richmond, Montgomery and Anson counties, along with eastern Union and the southern three-fourths of Randolph.
Craven is currently running for reelection and, as of this writing, records with the N.C. State Board of Elections show no challengers.
Committee appointments in the N.C. House of Representatives have not yet been announced.