North Country Sen. Patty Ritchie, R-Heuvelton, was named to several key leadership and committee roles for the Senate Minority Conference, including the secretary of the Senate Minority Conference and the new ranking member of the Senate’s Energy and Telecommunications, as well as Local Government Committees.

A Republican from Heuvelton, Ritchie represents the 48th Senate District. Its northern reaches include Ogdensburg, Canton and Gouverneur. It goes as far south as Oswego County.

Ritchie says the appointment to the Energy and Telecommunications leadership post will position her to better advocate for facilities in her region, including the Robert Moses-Robert Saunders Power Dam and the St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project in St. Lawrence County, and the jobs they support.

“In recent years, I have worked as a member of the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee to ensure our state’s energy grid is efficient, reliable and affordable for ratepayers,” said Senator Ritchie. “In my new role as ranking member, I am looking forward to building on those efforts.”

Sen. Ritchie was also selected to serve as ranking member of the Senate’s Local Government Committee.

“Throughout my tenure as state senator, it has been a priority for me to ease Albany’s unfunded mandates on local governments and help bring taxpayers relief,” said Ritchie. “There’s more work to be done, and I will continue to be a strong voice for our hardworking taxpayers by fighting for true mandate relief.”

In 2011, Senator Ritchie established a “Mandate Relief Working Group.” Made up of representatives from county, village and town governments as well as school districts, the group offers recommendations on mandates that New York needs to abolish or change to help local governments reduce costs to taxpayers.

Earlier this year, an idea from one of the group’s members officially became New York State law. The bill (S2904A), sponsored by State Senator Patty Ritchie, eases mandates on local municipalities with vehicle fleets by eliminating the requirement that a local agency must file numerous “hauling permits” every year for each vehicle and trailer in its fleet.

Senator Ritchie will also serve as the ranking member of the Senate’s Libraries Subcommittee, where she will continue to work to support New York’s more than 7,000 public libraries, including over 50 in the region she represents.