Aubertine’s Energy chair casualty of bipartisanship

In an effort to reach across the aisle of the State Senate, Democratic Conference leader John Sampson handed off Senator Darrel Aubertine’s chairmanship of the Senate Energy committee to western New York Republican George Maziarz.

Aubertine’s official statement about the change sounds amenable enough:

As I’ve said throughout my time in public service, a good idea is never a Republican or Democratic idea, it’s just a good idea. Bringing a chair from the other side of the aisle will introduce new ideas to the process and enable me to continue in an active role within the committee.

Aubertine perhaps was the mostly likely candidate to lose a chairmanship because he had two – he’ll remain chairman of the Senate Agriculture committee.