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Earl Ehrhart: ‘I’m no longer House rules chairman’

12:31 pm January 15, 2010, by jgalloway

Just ran into state Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs). “I’m no longer House rules chairman,” he said. Boxes are already stacked in his office.

The 22-year legislator held the No. 2 position of power in the House under Speaker Glenn Richardson, and – through his role as rules chairman – served as chief disciplinarian for the House leadership. So his removal was not unexpected.

Even so, Ehrhart was remarkably upbeat, and says he landed well. He’ll be a vice-chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, overseeing the budgets of Georgia’s universities – good news for Cobb County, which is home to Kennesaw State University and Southern Tech.

Ehrhart, who just turned 50, indicated that he wouldn’t be hanging around the Legislature too much longer, perhaps running for one more term.

Another reason for his smile as he prepared to vacate his office – he just had a kid named to the U.S. Naval Academy.

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5 comments Add your comment

Rich

January 15th, 2010
12:52 pm

This is excellent news for the people of Georgia. Way to go, Speaker Ralston.

Jim

January 15th, 2010
1:04 pm

Earl is a big boy…played the game hard and is well aware of how these shifts of power and influence can pan out…Like he implied, he is fortunate to get a rather soft landing, considering everything. Since he’s not planning on hanging around much longer, I hope he’ll avoid the prevailing wacko right wing approach to dealing with the University System through the Higher Education sub committee of Appropriations…Overall, a nice chance for Earl to rise up as a statesman to end his run. I hope he takes advantage of that unique opportunity.

bt

January 15th, 2010
3:39 pm

He is a crook, pure and simple.

RatSmeller

January 17th, 2010
7:10 pm

So old EE is gonna oversee the budgets of the University System? That’s just great. His old, and some say current, employer (The Facility Group) feasted on University System projects while he was Glenn’s axe man. Might be time to take a close, very close, look at spending at the various universities on construction projects and who gets those contracts…

A freind of Earl's

February 14th, 2010
3:50 pm

I have always found Earl to be a man of true conviction and on the up and up. He always picked up his phone to talk with me, even if we did not agree. Good luck and congrat’s on your son’s appointmnt