Topeka ? Committee chairmanships in the Kansas Senate are changing hands because some Republican senators are giving up their seats in the chamber.

Leaders of the chamber’s GOP majority say Wichita Sen. Susan Wagle will be the next chairwoman of the Commerce Committee. Wagle is replacing Olathe Sen. Karin Brownlee, who has been named the state’s next labor secretary by Republican Gov.-elect Sam Brownback.

Topeka Sen. Vicki Schmidt will become chairwoman of the Public Health and Welfare Committee. She’ll replace Emporia Sen. Jim Barnett, who resigned after losing a congressional primary in August.

But Schmidt has to give up her chairmanship of the Ethics and Elections Committee. That post will go to Fairway Sen. Terrie Huntington.