Face the State

One of the benefits of being speaker of the House of Representatives is the power to make committee appointments. While those assignments generally remain unchanged throughout the year and from session to session, Speaker Andrew Romanoff has the power to shuffle members around as he pleases. But the only word out of the Speaker's office about committee appointments ahead of Wednesday's start of the legislative session is to seat new representatives -- not move any current members around.
 
This all begs a question that has gone unanswered since the close of the 2007 General Assembly: will Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, return to his post as chairman of the House Education Committee?

Merrifield had a tough year in 2007, with Face The State uncovering a now-infamous e-mail where the legslator told Sen. Sue Windels, D-Arvada, that parents supportive of school choice options like charter schools deserve "a special place in hell."

As a result of those revelations, Merrifield stepped down from his chairmanship citing health problems and a desire not to distract the committee from its work. But in the summer, Merrifield began identifying himself as chairman to the media, signaling he intended to return to his post in January. As his committee does not meet in the off-session, the first chance for Merrifield to preside over a meeting would be this week when the House returns to work.

In fact, documents obtained by Face The State show Merrifield always intended his hiatus from the chair to be only for the remainder of the 2007 legislative session. In an e-mail sent only four days after stepping down, he stated in no uncertain terms his intention to return.

For Romanoff's part, regular inquiries to his press office in the past 6 months have yielded no concrete answers, but a staffer did report she believes Romanoff to have no designs on overhauling committee chairmanships.

It appears we'll all have to wait and see who bangs the gavel to open the House's first education committee hearing - and school-choice supporters have indicated to Face The State it's not an event that will go unwatched, or without consequence.

Updated: Thanks to reader cologeek, below, who notes Romanoff's office has made Merrifield's appointment through its announcement this week. Why so quiet, then, about returning him to his post all summer and fall?