RALEIGH — State Sen. Tom McInnis has been appointed to several committees, and will co-chair three of them, in the upcoming legislative session.
Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, announced the appointments in a press release Thursday.
McInnis, R-Richmond, will co-chair the Insurance and Commerce Committee, along with Sens. Todd Johnson, R-Union, and Chuck Edwards, R-Henderson; the Transportation Committee, along with Sens. Vickie Sawyer, R-Iredell, and Danny Earl Britt Jr., R-Robeson; and the Appropriations on Transportation Committee with Sawyer.
McInnis will also serve on the following committees: Agriculture, Energy and Environment; Base Budget; Education/Higher Education; Rules; Appropriations on Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources; and the Select Committee on Prison Safety.
“The committee process is so vitally important to what the Legislature does on a daily basis. It’s where the bulk of our deliberation takes place and where compromise can be found,” Berger said in a statement. “I want to thank our committee chairs for lending their expertise to their respective committees. I look forward to seeing all of the work our committees do to improve the lives of all North Carolinians.”
In another release issued later in the day Berger said McInnis’ “expertise will be invaluable as we return to Raleigh to work on behalf of all North Carolinians.”
“I am humbled and honored to have been appointed to committees whose actions will provide for a better North Carolina and stronger communities for all the citizens of the 25th Senatorial District,”McInnis said in a statement. “I promise to use these appointments to better the lives of the citizens in our district and state, and I believe that this upcoming session will prove to bring about positive transformational changes where opportunities will be endless for every man, woman and child.”
In August, McInnis was appointed to serve as co-chair of the Agriculture and Forestry Awareness Study Commission.
According to the 2021 seating chart, McInnis will sit directly behind Berger in the Senate chamber.
McInnis has served in the N.C. Senate since 2015 after winning an election against incumbent Gene McLaurin in November 2014, and has been reelected defeating challenges from Anson County Democrat Dannie Montgomery and Moore County’s Helen Probst Mills.
This will be his fourth term.
District 25 also includes Anson, Moore and Scotland counties.
(Note: This story has been updated to include quotes from McInnis and Berger. 8:42 p.m. 1-7-21)
