Members of the Washington State Senate Republican Caucus have named Sen. Joe Fain, R-Auburn, as the deputy Republican leader on the Senate Transportation Committee.

Fain, the youngest of the newly-elected Senate Republicans sworn into office Monday, the first day of the 2011 legislative session, says he’s looking forward to finding solutions to state problems with a new generation’s perspective.

“There are a lot of challenges facing us right now, and the upcoming session will likely be a trying one at times,” Fain said, “but I’m very excited about the opportunities we now have to reform state government and make government more responsive.”

In addition to his leadership position on the transportation committee, Fain will serve on the Senate Financial Institutions, Housing and Insurance Committee and the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee.

Senate Republican Leader Mike Hewitt recently made a formal request of Senate majority leadership to seat another Republican member on the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee, citing the senator’s passion for educational issues in his request to the majority leader. That request was approved by the majority party Monday.

Fain says he is ready for a demanding legislative session, considering how busy he’s been in the two months since the November general election – the highlight being his marriage last month to Steffanie Moxon, a Seattle attorney.

“Now that the tumult of the election and wedding planning is behind us, I can focus all my efforts on serving the people of the 47th District,” Fain said. “When the opening gavel falls Jan. 10, I’ll be prepared to hit the ground running.”