Sen. Adam G. Hinds, D-Pittsfield, was appointed to serve on the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
The appointment by Acting Senate President Harriette L. Chandler, D-Worcester, puts the first-term senator on the powerful committee charged with reviewing all matters related to state finances. The committee, is tasked each year with drafting the Senate budget, and is often the last stop for review of all bills and proposals before being debated on the Senate floor.
“I am honored to join this important committee,” said Hinds, whose district includes includes Ashfield, Conway, Shelburne, Buckland, Charlemont, Hawley, Heath, Rowe and Monroe. “It provides an opportunity to give western Massachusetts a louder voice when the Senate is making key policy and spending decisions.”
Chandler said that with the appointment of Hinds Wednesday, who joins Sens. James T. Welch, D-West Springfield, and Donald F. Humason Jr., R-Westfield, on the committee, “it is especially important that he brings even more western Massachusetts representation to the committee.”
The appointment came as Gov. Charlie Baker released his Fiscal 2019 budget recommendations today. The House and Senate Ways & Means Committees will now convene jointly for a series of budget hearings across the state as the two Chambers prepare for their own budget deliberations. The House of Representatives typically holds its annual budget debate in April; the Senate budget follows in late May. Fiscal Year 2019 begins on July 1, 2018.
Hinds also serves as chairman of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts & Cultural Development and as vice-chairman of the Joint Committee on Economic Development & Emerging Technologies. He is a member of the Joint Committees on Higher Education, Housing and Mental Health, as well as those on Substance Use and Recovery, on Municipalities and Regional Government.
He also serves on the Special Senate Committee on Citizen Engagement and the Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs, and he is the Senate co-chairman of the Rural Caucus and a member of the caucuses on Regional Schools, Regional Transit Authority, Gateway Cities and Trails.