(JUNEAU) - Rep. Jim Elkins of Ketchikan has been appointed to four Finance Subcommittees in his first session as a legislator. He will serve on subcommittees that review the budgets of the Departments of Administration, Natural Resources, Transportation and Public Facilities, as well as the University of Alaska.

"All of those four department budgets are essential to issues that specifically affect our district," Elkins said. "Through my committee assignments, the significance of the state's ferry system on the economies of the costal communities can to be brought to the attention of my fellow legislators, including my colleagues from Alaska's larger inland cities," he said. "Knowledge of our state's marine highway seems to be limited 'up north' and we are going to change that."

Elkins is presently co-chairman of the House Transportation Committee as well as a member of the Resources, State Affairs Committee, and the Special Committees for Fisheries, and Military and Veterans Affairs. "I've already received overviews from many departments and am looking forward to starting the budget review process," he said. "This budget review will be an opportunity to gain a wider perspective of state government and how it affects those of us in District One," he said.

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