When Democrats lost control of the House in 2010, the party also lost seats on every committee. So Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, lost his job on the House Education and Workforce Committee and moved to the House Agriculture Committee.

But, after putting in a request for transfer to House Democratic leaders, Courtney is back on the Education and Workforce Committee and has left the Agriculture Committee. Courtney says he’ll still look out for Connecticut’s farmers.

“I will continue to be an active member of the Congressional Dairy Caucus and advocate for legislation like the Dairy Security Act, which is critical to our farmers and would have passed last Congress were it not for Speaker (John) Boehner’s opposition,” Courtney said in a statement.

One of the first things he did on the education and workforce panel was ask its chairman, Rep. Ron Kline, R. Minn., to hold hearings on school safety.

Courtney will also continue to serve on the House Armed Services Committee.

Another Connecticut lawmaker, freshman Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, has received her second committee assignment, on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.

Esty will also serve on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

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Ana has written about politics and policy in Washington, D.C.. for Gannett, Thompson Reuters and UPI. She was a special correspondent for the Miami Herald, and a regular contributor to The New York TImes, Advertising Age and several other publications. She has also worked in broadcast journalism, for CNN and several local NPR stations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Journalism.

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