Earlier this month, Senators Doug Jones (D-AL) and Tina Smith (D-MN) were sworn in to the U.S. Senate. Sen. Jones won a closely watched special election in Alabama to fill the seat that was vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions that had been temporarily filled by Luther Strange. Sen. Jones’ election altered the balance of power in the Senate to a slim 51-49 Republican majority. Sen. Tina Smith was appointed by Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton to fill the seat of Sen. Al Franken, who resigned earlier this month amid sexual misconduct allegations
Both Sens. Jones and Smith were appointed to the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has left the HELP committee for this second session of the 115th Congress (although he remains in Congress). The committee now stands at 12 Republicans and 11 Democrats.
Prior to his election, Sen. Jones was an attorney who had previously served as a federal prosecutor. His election to the Senate marked somewhat of a return to the upper chamber, having previously worked as staff counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Smith had served as the Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota until her appointment. Before that, Sen. Smith started her own marketing firm; worked for several political campaigns and politicians; and served as vice president for external affairs for Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Following her appointment, Sen. Smith did indicate that funding for public schools and early education would be among her top priorities in Congress.
ACTE will work with Sens. Jones and Smith, along with the entire committee and Members of Congress in both chambers to advance policies that benefit the CTE community.
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