Those who follow the General Assembly know the “big chairs” as the people who chair the House and Senate appropriations committees.

These are the folks who will spend much of their time in the next couple of months (at least) hashing out a deal on the $21 billion (or more) state budget.

Two of the Senate’s three “big chairs” are pursuing higher office, so they’ll step down (so to speak) from their lofty seats.

With Sens. Walter Dalton and Kay Hagan stepping aside, colleagues Charlie Albertson and Charlie Dannelly will join Linda Garrou as the new Senate budget triumvirate.