ELLENSBURG - New 13th District State Representative Matt Manweller of Ellensburg will serve as the top Republican on the House Labor and Workforce Development Committee.

"It is almost unprecedented that a freshman legislator gets to be the ranking member, especially on such an important committee, so I am very excited," said Manweller. "Given the challenges our economy faces right now, I plan to work on policies that bring jobs back to Washington."

Republican Leader Richard DeBolt describes Manweller as a good fit for the assignment.

"He comes to the Legislature with an understanding of labor issues and, more importantly, what employers need to be successful," he said. "The House Labor and Workforce Development Committee considers a lot of important issues that impact our state's business climate, and we look forward to Matt advocating for solutions."

Manweller has also been assigned to the House Health Care and Wellness Committee. It will oversee the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Washington, as well as other health care issues

"The passage of the federal health care overhaul presents enormous challenges to Washington," Manweller said. "I hope that, serving on the Health Care Committee, I can move to minimize the more expensive and unfortunate parts of the legislation."

"We need to protect access to health care without creating expensive bureaucracies that make health care harder to obtain," Manweller added. "Equally important, serving on this committee, I can work to ensure funding for rural critical access hospitals."

Manweller's final committee assignment is the Government Operations and Elections Committee, which considers issues relating to state government, agency rulemaking, elections and campaign finance.

"As a member of this committee, I'm most interested in addressing agency rulemaking," Manweller said. "Over the past few years, departments such as Ecology and Labor and Industries have adopted too many rules that harm the economic competitiveness of Washington state. I would like to see jobs stay here instead of being exported to neighboring states."

The Legislature will convene on Jan. 14.