Question: What committee is chaired by the current New York State Senator from Brooklyn?
Context: Kenneth P. LaValle (born May 22, 1939 in Brooklyn, New York) represents District 1 in the New York State Senate, which comprises the five East End towns of Long Island, New York, and the eastern half of the Town of Brookhaven, New York.  First elected in 1976, he is the chair of the Higher Education Committee in the State Senate. The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) is an arts council serving the U.S. state of New York.  It was established in 1960 through a bill introduced in the New York State Legislature by New York State Senator MacNeil Mitchell (1905–1996), with backing from Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and began its work in 1961.  It awards more than 1,900 grants each year to arts, culture and heritage non-profits throughout the state.  Its headquarters are in Manhattan, New York City. Peter H. McNulty (1818-1902), a merchant and real estate operator and, concurrently, an officer from 1880 (3rd Battalion) and a major from 1889 (Quartermaster, 2nd Brigade) in the New York National Guard, was a multi term turn of the 19th century Democratic Party (USA) New York State Senator from Brooklyn’s 6th District (119th New York State Legislature, 120th New York State Legislature and 121st New York State Legislature).  McNulty apparently a few years after this service in the legislature died, remarkably, of “acute indigestion”. Dennis R. Frederickson (born July 27, 1939) is a Republican politician from Minnesota and a former Minnesota State Senator.  He was first elected in 1980 when he ran for the seat being vacated by Senator Carl Jensen, who was appointed to the Minnesota Tax Court and did not seek re-election.  He was re-elected in 1982, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2002 and 2006, receiving only one serious challenge for the position back in 1982 from former New Ulm mayor and state representative Tony Eckstein.  In recent campaigns, his re-election committee was chaired by former state senator Earl Renneke. New York's 1st State Senate district is one of 62 districts of the New York State Senate.  It is currently represented by Senator Kenneth LaValle (R). John J. McNulty, Jr. ("Jack" or "Big Jack") (1922–2009) was a Northern New York State, U.S.A. political power broker, who held a series of local political offices in Albany County, New York from 1949 and in 6 ensuing decades until the year 2002 and whose crowning political achievement was succeeding at having his son Michael R. McNulty elected to several successive terms as a United States Congressman.  Jack McNulty is said to have been a "co-congressman" for the 2 decades that his son served in the U.S. Congress, before his retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008.  A fellow Democrat, Jack was a staunch opponent of the entrenched old guard Albany County Democratic political machine Democratic Party (U.S.A.), which was run by Dan O’Connell and which in a political in-fight had unseated his father John J. McNulty, Sr. as Sheriff of Albany County, New York back in 1937.  The high point of Jack's personal political career was when he recaptured that Sheriff's office, being, himself, elected Sheriff of the County of Albany, New York in 1973.  In later life, Jack was a beloved and respected elder statesman of Northern New York State.  The mention of his name at a year 2000 Democratic convention at the Times Union Center caused the full arena crowd of 11,000 people to rise in a spontaneous standing ovation.  "Jack McNulty's word was his bond."  – Democratic New York State Senator Neil Breslin, "For being 87, Jack knew how to change with the time.  Jack connected to people in their 20s."  – Albany County Democratic Chairman Dan McCoy, "the man I often introduced at Democratic Party events as the greatest Democrat I know."  – Rensselaer County Democratic Chairman Thomas Wade Lexow Committee (1894 to 1895), is the name given to a major New York State Senate probe into police corruption in New York City.  The Lexow Committee inquiry, which took its name from the Committee's chairman, State Senator Clarence Lexow, was the widest-ranging of several such commissions empaneled during the 19th century.  The testimony collected during its hearings ran to over 10,000 pages and the resultant scandal played a major part in the defeat of Tammany Hall in the elections of 1894 and the election of the reform administration of Mayor William L. Strong.  The investigations were initiated by pressure from Charles Henry Parkhurst. Shirley L. Huntley (born June 29, 1938) is a former New York State Senator, serving from 2007 to 2012.  She pleaded guilty to mail fraud in 2013.  Huntley represented parts of Queens County, including Jamaica, South Jamaica, Springfield Gardens, Laurelton, South Ozone Park, Kew Gardens, Broad Channel, and Lindenwood.  A Democrat, she defeated former Senator Ada Smith in the Democratic Primary.  She was the Ranking Minority Member of the Investigations and Government Operations Committee.  She served on the Education Committee, the Higher Education Committee, the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Committee, and the Transportation Committee. Andrea Stewart-Cousins (Democrat, Independence and Working Families) is a New York State Senator and the first woman in New York State history to lead a conference in Albany.  The Yonkers resident represents the 35th State Senate district in New York which in its present configuration includes Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Elmsford, Greenburgh, Hastings-on-Hudson, Irvington, Tarrytown, Scarsdale and parts of Yonkers, White Plains, and New Rochelle.  Prior to being elected to the New York State Senate, she was a Westchester County Legislator.  She was elected to the New York State Senate in 2006.  In 2012, her colleagues chose her to be the first female legislative leader; she currently serves as Democratic Conference Leader. Martin J. Golden (born September 22, 1950) is an American politician from Brooklyn, New York, one of the five boroughs of New York City.  Currently a member of the New York State Senate, Golden is a former member of the New York City Council.  Golden is currently the only Republican State Senator from Brooklyn, and one of only three Republican elected officials in Brooklyn, along with Nicole Malliotakis, and Daniel M. Donovan, Jr..
Answer: Higher Education Committee