ATLANTA – State Representative Lynn Smith (R-Newnan) was recently elected Vice Chair to the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) Energy and Environment Committee. Rep. Smith was elected by the Committee at SLC’s 68th Annual Meeting in Little Rock, Arkansas.
“It is such an honor to have been assigned to this Committee by Speaker Ralston and elected to serve as Vice Chair by my fellow committee members,” said Rep. Smith. “I have a passion for preserving our state’s natural resources and am always eager to learn about and create new policies that will protect our precious natural resources and stimulate our economy. Serving as Vice Chair of this Committee is an invaluable experience, and I look forward to sharing my knowledge with my House colleagues as we continue to seek sound environmental policies that will keep Georgia thriving for years to come.”
The SLC brought together nearly 1,000 delegates, legislative staff, and guests from across the South for its annual meeting in Little Rock. At this year’s meeting, members of the Energy and Environment Committee met for various program sessions and examined issues related to infrastructure development; preparation of a skilled workforce; long-term environmental concerns; the economic cycle of boom industries; the importance of infrastructure development in the energy sector; and standards, best practices and measures to increase preparedness to protect vital resources. The Committee also reviewed the Southern States Energy Board’s 2014 Legislative Digest, along with the SLC state-by-state updates on the most recently concluded legislative sessions.
The Energy and Environment Committee is one of six SLC standing committees. According to SLC, the Committee has studied clean water programs and water permitting; alternative energy; the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP); state compliance with federal clean air and water standards; the future for nuclear power; the role of merchant power plants; the ramifications of deregulation on Southern states; growth and sprawl; and surveyed recent legislative and state public utility activity.
Founded in 1947, the Southern Legislative Conference is the largest of four regional legislative groups operating under the Council of State Governments. The 15 SLC member states are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. The mission of The Council of State Governments’ Southern Legislative Conference is to foster and encourage intergovernmental cooperation among these 15 states.
For more information about SLC and its Energy and Environment Committee, please click here.
Representative Lynn Smith represents the citizens of District 70, which includes portions of Carroll and Coweta counties. She was elected into the House of Representatives in 1996, and currently serves as the Chairman of the Natural Resources & Environment Committee. She also serves on the Appropriations, Legislative & Congressional Reapportionment, and Rules committees.
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