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Steele to head state Senate majority Friday, Dec 29, 2006 Arkansas News Bureau NORTH LITTLE ROCK - State Sen. Tracy Steele, D-North Little Rock, will serve as majority leader of the state Senate during the legislative session that convenes next month, the first black legislator to hold the post. Steele was elected by his Democratic peers at a recent organizational meeting. Democrats will hold 27 of the 35 Senate seats during the 86th General Assembly, which convenes Jan. 8. "It's an awesome responsibility, but it's a responsibility I look forward to," the veteran lawmaker said, adding that he hoped to galvanize support for legislation important to the state and "bring the ideas of all my colleagues together." "We're such a large majority, if we can bring together like minds, we can move our agenda forward," he said. He said tax reform, tax relief, economic development, health care and continued strengthening of the state's educational system are among his priorities for the regular session. Steele, 44, is a graduate of North Little Rock High School and earned a political science degree from Rice University. He served as an aide to then-Gov. Bill Clinton and to Clinton's successor, former Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, who named Steele as the first executive director of the Arkansas Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission in 1994. He was elected to the first of two terms in the state House in 1998, and was elected to the state Senate in 2002. Steele resigned as King Commission director in October and began publishing a monthly newspaper, Stand. He said he planned to launch the Stand Foundation on Feb. 1, focusing on leadership training and development. |
