Last week the House and Senate elected their leadership teams for the upcoming 2019-2020 legislative session. The four top leaders (Speaker of the House, House Minority Leader, Senate Majority Leader, and Senate Minority Leader) play a critical role in shaping policy for the state. They work together, along with the governor, to move forward with both the state budget and policy legislation. This upcoming session the four leaders will need to work together even more given that the voters elected a Democratic governor. The leaders will negotiate to find bipartisan compromise in order to pass legislation and increase the chances that the new governor will sign it into law. Since they play such a major role in the legislature, it’s important to know who they are and their backgrounds in order to understand how they may lead and where they may land on certain issues. The new leadership team effective January 1, 2019 will be:

• Speaker of the House: Representative Lee Chatfield (R-Levering) – When he begins his new role in January, at 30 years old he will be the youngest Speaker in Michigan’s history. He currently serves as the House Speaker Pro Tem. Prior to his election in 2014, he served as a high school teacher, coach, and athletic director at Northern Michigan Christian Academy.
• House Minority Leader: Representative Christine Greig (D-Farmington Hills) – She currently serves as the House Democratic Floor Leader. Prior to her election in 2014, she served as founder and executive director of the Farmington/Farmington Hills Education Foundation and as president of the Farmington Area PTA Council from 2007-2011.
• Senate Majority Leader: Senator Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) – Prior to his election to state office, he was the founder and owner of Orbitform, an engineering company that manufactures forming, fastening, joining, and assembly equipment. Additionally, he worked at General Motors in various management and engineering roles for thirteen-years.
• Senate Minority Leader: Senator Jim Ananich (D-Flint) – He currently serves as the Senate Minority Leader. Prior to being elected to state office, he was a teacher at Carman-Ainsworth and Flint Community Schools and was an education coordinator for Priority Children.

In other leadership news, yesterday Speaker-elect Lee Chatfield named Representative Shane Hernandez (R-Port Huron) as the chair of the house Appropriations Committee for the new term. To read the full list of leaders elected last week, please click here to view the House leadership team and please click here to view the Senate leadership team.

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