District 12 State Rep. Jay Hughes was appointed to five committees last week for his first term in office.

He will be on the Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency, Judiciary A, Medicaid, Constitution and State Library committees.

“I am truly excited about the opportunity to have a seat at the table of these committees, particularly health care, transparency and judiciary,” he said. “While it is unfortunate that I was not able to have the opportunity to be on the education committee, I respect that my strong support for public education is inconsistent with the Speaker’s stated conservative agenda.”

Hughes said he will continue to be a vocal proponent of public education and oppose privatization and allowing students from outside Lafayette County to come in to the local system.

“This is not in the best interest of our great local schools, nor does it take care of those unfortunate students who are left behind,” he said. “I will serve proudly and strongly on the committees and continue to send out regular emails and Facebook posts about what is really going on in the capitol with our tax dollars.”