New Legislative Counsel Bureau director named
CARSON CITY - Assembly fiscal analyst Rick Combs was picked Tuesday as the new director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau.
Combs, 43, a Tennessee native and former lawyer who has worked the last 18 years as a legislative employee, was unanimously recommended by an eight-member legislative panel, the Committee to Consult With the Director.
As director for all employee divisions that make up the state Legislature, he will be paid $138,000 a year and head a staff of 300. In his position, Combs will serve as the chief administrator who assists the 63 legislators in carrying out their work. He replaces Lorne Malkiewich, who is resigning after nearly 20 years in the position.
Combs was selected over four other candidates: Paul Townsend, the legislative auditor; Kevin Powers, chief litigation counsel for the Legislature's legal division; Bryant Howe, assistant director of the Utah Office of Legislative Research; and Nicolas Anthony, senior principal deputy legislative counsel for the Nevada Legislature.
Combs' selection must be finalized at a May 30 meeting of the Legislative Commission, but approval is guaranteed. He was the only person recommended for the post by Democratic and Republican leaders of both houses who serve on the committee.
"It is obviously a great honor," Combs said. "I am excited (about) the new challenge. I told them in the interview I am a person of integrity."
Interviews of all five candidates were conducted in public, including over the Internet and on closed-circuit television in state government buildings.
State Senate Minority Leader Mike McGinness, R-Fallon, said Combs is such a hard worker that during the 2003 session he worked late one day with the Senate Taxation Committee even with a child in intensive care in a local hospital.
"I had to tell him to go home," McGinness said.
