What's hot in the House next week?

Monday is it. The first day of the 2011 legislative session.

As we do every year, we'll once again be providing a Friday preview of the upcoming week's activities. Monday will be opening ceremonies at noon, Tuesday at noon is the Governor's State of the State address, and Wednesday at 11:30 is the State of the Judiciary.

Below is the agenda for Monday. To see what else is happening in committees next week, check out our Hot List.

10:00 am Health Care & Wellness
Work Session: Update on Federal health Care Reform Implementation.

1:30 pm Higher Education
Work Session: Higher Education’s Contributions to the Economy and Citizenship – The impact of Higher Education on our economy and society.

1:30 pm State Government & Tribal Affairs
Work Session: Liquor Control Board, Store Conversion Plan.

3:30 pm Ways & Means
Work Session: Presentation of the Governor’s 2011 supplemental and 2011-13 biennial budget proposals.

The Tukwila Reporter reports on Tukwilan Zack Hudgins

The Tukwila Reporter's got the scoop on Rep. Hudgins' most recent leadership position. When the 2011 session convenes on Monday, Zack steps down from his position as Majority Floor Leader to become the new chair of the General Government Appropriations and Oversight Committee.

The committee is a natural fit for Zack, whose previous work as a member of the committee lead to the implementation of cost-savings measures at several state agencies, which are projected to save millions of taxpayer dollars.

Here's Zack guiding us on a tour of Tukwila and the 11th District:

Eastside town hall tonight

Reps. Ross Hunter and Deb Eddy, along with Senator Rodney Tom, are hosting a town hall tonight at Bellevue City Hall at 6 p.m.

Their focus will be the state budget and education reform, but folks from the 48th district are welcome to come with questions about anything.

Hey, Vancouverites! Come get something off of your chest at a Town Hall meeting

Town Halls are every bit as American as your mama's (or your papa's) best apple pie, but these little community get-togethers won't saddle you with even half the calories.

Clark County folks will have a chance in a couple of days to pull up a chair for a Town Hall of their own. Three Vancouver lawmakers are inviting southwestern Washington residents to a meeting Saturnday morning, January 8, from 10:00 till noon. The gathering will be held in the sixth floor hearing foom of the Clark County Public Service Center, which is located at 1300 Franklin St. in Vancouver.

State Reps. Jim Moeller and Jim Jacks will be joined by state Sen. Craig Pridemore. The three represent the 49th Legislative District, which includes Vancouver west of Interstate 205 and Hazel Dell. They are preparing for the 2011 legislative session that kicks off Monday, January 10. No doubt, the thorniest issues in the upcoming 105-day session involve the hunt for answers to the economic quandary. But a number of other pressing matters also await consideration. The legislators will use what they hear at the town hall to help make sure their work in the state capital reflects what constituents in the real world are really thinking.

Yes, you're darn tootin' these types of town meetings are an American tradition. Without a doubt, public involvement must forever play a starring role in the way we Yankee Doodlers govern ourselves. And that holds true whether you're talking citizen participation in the tradition of Norman Rockwell's famous Freedom of Speech painting or citizen participation in the manner of modern-day political blogs.

A new year, some new laws

The start of 2011 was also the start of some new laws that quietly went into effect on Saturday.

Two of those laws focus on decreasing toxic chemicals in our environments. One is a ban on certain toxic flame retardants used in upholstered furniture, computers and televisions. This was a bill Rep. Ross Hunter worked on for years and finally passed in 2007. Another eliminates use of lead wheel weights, which frequently fall off vehicles and become a source of groundwater and stormwater pollution.

Also in effect is the new "Emergency Zone Law" which requires motorists to leave a 200-foot buffer around emergency vehicles who have stopped and are responding to an emergency. Fines for failing to make room for first responders can be as high as $248.

Other new laws include an expansion of eligibility for people who can apply for an interlock-ignition drivers license and authority for judges to personally set bail for people arrested on felony charges (a law prompted by the 2009 Lakewood officer shootings).

2011 committee line-up

This past weekend members of the House Democratic Caucus approved the new committee structure (down from 25 committees to 21), chairs and members of the committees.

Agriculture & Natural Resources
Rep. Brian Blake (Aberdeen) - Chair
Stanford - Vice Chair
Dunshee
Lytton
Rolfes
Van De Wege

Business & Financial Services
Rep. Steve Kirby (Tacoma) - Chair
Kelley - Vice Chair
Blake
Hudgins
Hurst
Pedersen
Ryu
Stanford

Capital Budget
Rep. Hans Dunshee (Snohomish) - Chair
Ormsby - Vice Chair
Jacks
Jinkins
Lytton
Tharinger

Community Development & Housing
Rep. Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney (Seattle) - Chair
Finn - Vice Chair
Maxwell
Ryu
Santos

Early Learning & Human Services
Rep. Ruth Kagi (Lake Forest Park) - Chair
Roberts - Vice Chair
Dickerson
Goodman
Orwall

Education
Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos (Seattle) - Chair
Lytton - Vice Chair
Billig
Finn
Haigh
Hunt
Ladenburg
Liias
Maxwell
McCoy
Probst

Education Appropriations & Oversight
Rep. Kathy Haigh (Shelton) - Chair
Probst - Vice Chair
Frockt
Maxwell
Orwall
Reykdal
Rolfes
Santos
Sells
Stanford

Environment
Rep. Dave Upthegrove (Des Moines) - Chair
Rolfes - Vice Chair
Fitzgibbon
Morris
Moscoso
Takko
Tharinger

General Government Appropriations & Oversight
Rep. Zack Hudgins (Tukwila) - Chair
Blake
Darneille
Fitzgibbon
Miloscia
Pedersen
Van De Wege

Health & Human Services Appropriations & Oversight
Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (Seattle) - Chair
Appleton - Vice Chair
Cody
Green
Kagi
Pettigrew
Seaquist

Health Care & Wellness
Rep. Eileen Cody (West Seattle) - Chair
Jinkins - Vice Chair
Clibborn
Green
Kelley
Moeller
Van De Wege

Higher Education
Rep. Larry Seaquist (Gig Harbor) - Chair
Carlyle
Hasegawa
Jacks
Probst
Reykdal
Sells
Springer

Judiciary
Rep. Jamie Pedersen (Seattle) - Chair
Goodman - Vice Chair
Eddy
Frockt
Kirby
Orwall
Roberts

Labor & Workforce Development
Rep. Mike Sells (Everett) - Chair
Reykdal - Vice Chair
Green
Kenney
Miloscia
Moeller
Ormsby
Roberts

Local Government
Rep. Dean Takko (Longview) - Chair
Tharinger - Vice Chair
Fitzgibbon
Springer
Upthegrove

Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness
Rep. Chris Hurst (Enumclaw) - Chair
Ladenburg - Vice Chair
Appleton
Goodman
Kirby
Moscoso

Rules
Speaker Frank Chopp (Seattle) - Chair
Eddy
Frockt
Goodman
Green
Kelley
Maxwell
Moeller
Orwall
Pettigrew
Probst
Ryu
Springer
Sullivan
Van De Wege

State Government & Tribal Affairs
Rep. Sam Hunt (Olympia) - Chair
Appleton - Vice Chair
Dunshee
Hurst
McCoy
Miloscia

Technology, Energy & Communications
Rep. John McCoy (Tulalip) - Chair
Jacks - Vice Chair
Billig
Carlyle
Eddy
Frockt
Hasegawa
Kelley
Liias
Morris

Transportation
Rep. Judy Clibborn (Mercer Island) - Chair
Billig - Vice Chair
Liias - Vice Chair
Eddy
Finn
Fitzgibbon
Jinkins
Ladenburg
Moeller
Morris
Moscoso
Reykdal
Rolfes
Ryu
Takko
Upthegrove

Ways & Means
Rep. Ross Hunter (Medina) - Chair
Darneille - Vice Chair, Appropriations
Hasegawa - Vice Chair, Finance
Carlyle
Cody
Dickerson
Haigh
Hudgins
Hunt
Kagi
Kenney
Ormsby
Pettigrew
Seaquist
Springer
Sullivan

42 in the hopper

Legislators have already begun pre-filing bills for the 2011 session. As of this today, there have been 42 House bills dropped into the "hopper" (the extremely technical term for the basket in the code reviser’s office where legislators file bills they want to sponsor).

See a bill that interests you? Set up an easy bill-tracking account and follow it through the process.