LANSING — Last night, the Speaker of the House announced the committee assignments for the 2019-20 legislative session. State Rep. Leslie Love (D-Detroit) was appointed to serve on the House Appropriations Committee as well as Appropriations Subcommittees on Health and Human Services and Transportation. Love was also appointed as the Democratic vice chair of the Joint Capital Outlay Subcommittee (JCOS).
“I would like to thank House Speaker Lee Chatfield and Democratic Leader Christine Greig for appointing me to this important committee,” Love said. “The budget is a values statement, and I am committed to making sure our budget this year reflects the true values of the people of our state — that means ensuring access to a quality education and affordable health care and fixing our roads to last. Every state agency needs proper funding to function effectively and efficiently and positively impact the lives of our citizens, and I am looking forward to this increased responsibility.”
This year a two-tier committee review process was enacted, meaning all legislation must pass through its original committee plus one of four others — including Appropriations — before it can be reported to the House floor.
The JCOS is the only appropriations subcommittee with statute-specific duties, charged with approving all structural and procedural requirements for state capital outlay projects. Capital outlay is the portion of the state budget that is devoted to the planning and financing of construction, renovation, remodeling, repair, and maintenance of facilities and capital assets for use by all state agencies, state-supported public universities and community colleges.