GOP House leaders name committee chairs

House Speaker-designee Thom Tillis (R-Mecklenburg) has released his picks for key House committee leadership positions.

The other Appropriations "big chairs" will be Reps. Jeff Barnhart (R-Cabarrus), Mitch Gillespie (R-McDowell), and Linda Johnson (R-Cabarrus). Subcommittee chairs will be announced later.

The Finance committee chairs will be Reps. Julia Howard (R-Davie), Mitch Setzer (R-Catawba), and Edgar Starnes (R-Caldwell).

Rules will be co-chaired by Reps. Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) and Stephen LaRoque (R-Lenoir).

Tillis is also combining some committees. The three Judiciaries will be under one umbrella, overseen by longtime Johnston Rep. Leo Daughtry. Subcommittee chairs TBA.

And Alcoholic Beverage Control, Science and Technology, and Business and Labor will now fall under Commerce, chaired by New Hanover Rep. Danny McComas.

Tillis won't actually become Speaker until he's elected at the beginning of session, so these chairmanships won' t be official till then, either. But there's no reason to suppose anything will change before session begins next week.