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Espich, Crawford leave hole in Ways & Means

Following the retirement of its two longtime leaders, the House Ways and Means committee will look significantly different when the Indiana General Assembly begins its session in January.

Between them, Uniondale Republican Jeff Espich and Indianapolis Democrat Bill Crawford had 80 years of legislative experience.  The two men led the House Ways and Means committee when their party was in control.  But both are retiring this year. 

House Speaker Brian Bosma will announce the new Republican Ways and Means leadership team this week, and he says there are 8 or 9 candidates for the chairmanship. 

Bosma says there are a variety of qualifications he’s considering.

“Have to have time to do it because it is a time-consuming process. They have to be someone that can take in a lot of information in a short period of time,” Bosma said. “They have to be experienced in the legislative process.”

House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath says he’s tabbed Indianapolis Representative Greg Porter to lead his caucus on Ways and Means.

“He’s an extraordinarily experienced legislator, he has great integrity, he’s a good man and he has a great grasp of a myriad of issues but particularly in the education realm,” Pelath said.

Indiana devotes 56% of its state budget to education, the highest percentage of any state in the country.  Porter formerly led Democrats on the House Education Committee.