Last week at a meeting in Louisville, the DLCC’s Board of Directors – made up of Democratic legislative leaders from across the country – voted to admit Tennessee’s Mike Turner as our newest board member.

Representing the 51st State House District (based in Davidson County) since 2000, Rep. Turner is the Caucus Chairman of the Tennessee House Democrats. But his commitment to public service extends far beyond the halls of the capitol. Rep. Turner is also an active member of his family’s church, three local chambers of commerce, and the professional associations representing Nashville firefighters and Tennessee state employees – along with many other community organizations he remains involved with.

Rep. Turner also serves as a local fire captain, and in that capacity he personally participated in the rescue of Nashville residents stranded in the devastating flooding earlier this year. The Tennessee House of Representatives honored his actions with a resolution of praise shortly thereafter, and a local news crew captured images of Rep. Turner wading through neck-deep floodwaters in order to bring residents to safer ground:

Finally, as a Democratic leader in one of the Democratic Party’s most important redistricting priority states this year (both legislative chambers are within just a few seats of returning to Democratic control), Rep. Turner’s guidance and expertise will prove invaluable as the 2010 campaign heats up.

Rep. Turner, welcome to the DLCC.

Speaker Seth Hammett of the Alabama House of Representatives, after 32 years serving in the legislature and 12 years as Speaker, presided over his final legislative day when the State House adjourned last week. Speaker Hammett was widely respected for his effective stewardship of the chamber:

Known for his cool and reserved demeanor, Hammett rarely got rattled in the speaker's seat over the years, even when the House members got rambunctious. Hammett said the way to tell when he was getting close to fed up is that he would toss his pencil.

The Andalusia Democrat was adamant about keeping the House orderly and productive, which led to legislators often joking about not fouling up the "speaker's flow chart" -- a plan for the movement of bill's through the House.

Majority Leader Ken Guin, a member of the DLCC Board of Directors, added his own praise for Speaker Hammett, noting “We're all going to miss Seth. I had talked to him throughout the session and had hoped he would reconsider (…) He's been an outstanding speaker, maybe the best in the state's history."

Thank you, Speaker Hammett, for your years of service, and we wish you and your family all the best.

Congratulations are in order for Providence Democrat Gordon Fox, who has been overwhelmingly chosen by his fellow Representatives to be the next Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives.

Interestingly, Speaker-Elect Fox will break more than one barrier when he takes the lead in the State House:

Besides being the first openly gay lawmaker to preside at the speaker’s rostrum, members of the House minority caucus say that Fox, the child of an Irish-American and a mother of Cape Verdean descent, is the first minority lawmaker to hold what is arguably the state’s most powerful political post.

He will preside over a veto-proof Democratic majority and have wide sway over which bills come to a vote and which bills die.

During a closed-door caucus, Democratic lawmakers also picked Nicholas Mattiello of Cranston as their majority leader and J. Patrick O’Neill of Pawtucket as the party whip.

Congratulations to all the newly-elected leaders in Rhode Island, and we wish them the best of luck solving the challenges Rhode Island faces in this tough economy.

Democratic State Senator Josh Stein-- a 43 year old freshman legislator in North Carolina -- is being honored for his work as a consumer advocate. AARP North Carolina has presented Shapiro with its 2009 Outstanding Legislator Award:

Bill Wilson, associate state director for advocacy, said Stein is “a strong voice on behalf of consumers, particularly for older adults in this state because they are frequently the targets of people who want to scam or take advantage of them.”

Though just a first year member, Stein was the primary sponsor of 10 different pieces of legislation to become law. Because of his efforts, consumers will find it easier to place a security freeze on their credit report, and the state will launch a financial literacy council to oversee financial education for students.

Assemblyman John Pérez is set to make history. On Thursday he was chosen by the Democratic caucus of the California Assembly to succeed Speaker Karen Bass as the lower chamber's new leader. When the next legislative session begins in January, he will become the body's first openly gay leader.

Though a first term lawmaker, the 40-year-old will bring a wealth of political experience to the position:

Pérez, a former union organizer who is the cousin of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, has deep ties to labor, most recently working as political director for a Southern California local of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. He also served as chairman of the Democratic Caucus this year and took the lead securing votes during last month's contentious negotiations on water policy

Pérez will face a series of steep challenges, as experts estimate that California will faces annual $20 billion budget shortfalls for at least the next five years. But with his proven ability to build coalitions and the unamimous support of Assembly Democrats, he is in a strong position to assume this new role.

In an historic and unanimous vote yesterday afternoon, New Jersey Democrats chose Sheila Oliver as the first African-American woman ever to serve as the state’s Assembly Speaker.

After the vote, Democratic legislators expressed confidence that Oliver and incoming Majority Leader Joseph Cryan will provide effective leadership in their new roles:

"(Oliver) was very soulful," Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex) said. "Joe (Cryan) is very practical. I think they'll be a great team."

Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Mercer) said Oliver will be an effective speaker despite her relative inexperience in the Legislature.

"Her ability to put people together is one of her strong assets," he said. "And she has the support of all of us."

Oliver will lead a chamber where Democrats hold a dominant, 47-33 majority after successfully defending all but one of their Assembly seats earlier this November. Her Democratic counterpart in the State Senate will be incoming Senate President Joseph Sweeney, who was also chosen yesterday afternoon.

In Texas, Scott Hochberg, a Democratic legislator from Houston has set into motion a potential revolution in public education.

The state spends hundreds millions of dollars outfitting Texas schoolchildren with new textbooks every two years, but forward-thinking policymakers like Hochberg are looking to the emerging market of ebooks to provide new educational resources and save taxpayers considerable amounts of money.

Hochberg wants to introduce open-source textbooks to the classroom. Under his proposal the state of Texas would own the content in each book and offer educators, professors, and vendors the ability to update and supplement the materials over time. Just before the last session of the legislature came to a close, Hochberg introduced a bill that would allow the Texas Education Agency to purchase open-source text books for public schools:

The quiet coup could help open the book market, dominated by few giant players, to an entirely new and unpredictable set of providers, from work-a-day teachers and professors to software giants.

In the meantime, the bill gives Texas universities a wide-open door to the schools market: They can approve the work of their own professors, provided they sign off on its accuracy and alignment with state curriculum standards. The law mandates that the State Board of Education “shall” put the university submissions on the state-approved list — it has no power to reject.

Ultimately, Hochberg is looking to pave the way for an entirely new approach to education in his state. If he succeeds, Texas will likely offer a model for policymakers everywhere.

Libby Mitchell first ran for the Maine Legislature in 1974. Eventually, she became Speaker of the House. She ultimately served nine terms in the lower chamber before moving to the Senate, and in December, she became Senate President.

Sen. Mitchell is the first woman in the history of the United States to have held both positions.

She recently gave a long interview with Maine Insight, where she talked about her career in politics and her policy goals for the state:

Libby is a woman of many talents, having been a teacher, the director of Maine State Housing, holding a law degree and blazing the trail for women in Maine. Her tremendous sense of humor has defused situations, helping bipartisan cooperation, and her steadfast focus on education continues to motivate her.

For her entire career as an elected official, Sen. Mitchell has been focused on improving education -- in particular working to expand scholarship opportunities.

In the short term, she is working to fill Maine's $140 million budget shortfall.

Next month, Democratic State Senator Gerald Malloy of South Carolina will be named one of “Katie’s Heroes” for his tireless advocacy of a state DNA registry for violent felons, which passed in 2008, and for his work as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Criminal Justice System Task Force:

John Walsh, host of America’s Most Wanted, will be presenting the award at a luncheon hosted by the family of Katie Sepich, a young woman who was brutally raped and murdered in Aug of 2003, and whose family has established a nonprofit organization called DNA Saves.

(…)DNA Saves feels that Senator Malloy’s contributions to enacting DNA arrestee legislation in South Carolina deserves recognition and appreciation for a law that will benefit many in the succeeding years. In presenting him this award, Katie’s family wants to let Senator Malloy’s constituents know that he is a hero to them as well as to the many victims of violent crime.

“This will be a vital tool for law enforcement and it is essential that we provide our law enforcement with the best tools to keep our citizens safe. This methodology is already used by the Federal Government and should be a logical extension to our State,” said Senator Malloy.

The ceremony will be held on July 22nd as part of the National Conference of State Legislatures conference in Philadelphia. We applaud Senator Malloy for this award and for his ongoing fight to keep South Carolina’s families and children safe.

The Texas Observer has put together a list of the lawmakers who, "notably opposed—or bravely ­championed—the best interests of the good folk of Texas at the 81st Legislature."

Rep. Garnet Coleman, a DLCC Board Member, features prominently on the tally of those working for the peoples' interest:

For those who follow Texas politics, Garnet Coleman and the Children’s Health Insurance Program have become nearly synonymous. Perhaps no recent government program has benefited working families as much as CHIP, which provides low-cost coverage to families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but still can’t afford private insurance. And no lawmaker in the state has nurtured and protected the program since its inception in 1999 as fiercely as Coleman. This session, Coleman once again fought the good fight, sponsoring a bill to expand CHIP to 80,000 more Texas children. He pushed the bill through the House, only to see it die in the Senate. Coleman tried to resurrect the proposal right through the session’s final hours. He didn’t win this one. But Coleman will surely return in two years with another CHIP bill.

Rep. Coleman has also been a powerful advocate for higher education and rural health care.

As for those who the Observer describes as opposing the peoples' interest -- well, all five of those legislators are Republicans.

Is anyone surprised?