A local legislator has been promoted within a joint legislativegroup that serves as the “watch dog” for state government.

Brookhaven’s District 39 Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, the chairwomanof the Senate Agriculture Committee, was recently elected to thesecretary position within the Joint Committee on PerformanceEvaluation and Expenditure Review. PEER is the legislative bodythat keeps an eye on government agencies’ operations.

Hyde-Smith and 13 other lawmakers on the PEER committee performsuch actions as evaluating the performance and efficiency of stateagencies and reporting their findings to the Legislature forpossible adjustment. State employees, spending habits and agencies’missions and goals are all reviewed by the PEER committee, on whichHyde-Smith now serves in a leadership role.

“It is an honor to be selected to serve on PEER,” Hyde-Smithsaid in a statement. “I take this responsibility very seriously andam pleased to be part of transparency in government.”