Sen. Wentworth elected chairman of SL conference, Senator Mark Norris Elected to the Office of Vice Chair

San Marcos Record
July 16, 2008

Delegates to the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Council of State Governments’ Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) elected Texas Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, chair of the conference. Wentworth is the first Texas Senator to serve as SLC chair since 1985.

Delegates from SLC’s 16 member states unanimously elected the Texas senator to succeed Representative Julia C. Howard of N.C. South Carolina House of Representatives Speaker Robert W. Harrell Jr. was chosen chair-elect, and Tennessee Senator Mark Norris was elected vice-chair, resulting in a change in all leadership positions.

“I am both honored and humbled to be chosen chair of the Southern Legislative Conference, particularly since it has been more than 20 years since a Texas senator has served as chair,” Wentworth said. “Sharing information about state and federal issues with delegates from other states has been invaluable for me as a Texas senator.”

Wentworth is a member of the National Executive Committee of the Council of State Governments. He previously chaired the Border Legislative Conference, which is a joint project of the Council of State Government’s Western Office and SLC to develop a self-sustaining program aimed at establishing ongoing dialogue among state legislators on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border.

As SLC chair, Sen. Wentworth will preside over all executive committee meetings and guide the conference in major policy deliberations. When he was chair-elect, Sen. Wentworth hosted the 2007 SLC Fall Meeting in San Antonio.

This year’s conference agenda included discussion on the threats and opportunities presented by China’s rapidly expanding economy.

Other discussion topics included human trafficking, the emerging role of the rail industry in the South, methods of public school teacher compensation, early childhood education, energy efficiency and national and regional economic trends.