Kenosha’s newest delegate to the Wisconsin Legislature took the oath of office Monday, as Democrats officially took control of both houses in the Capitol.

Democrat Peter Barca, elected in November to represent the north-side 64th Assembly District, was sworn into the Assembly after more than a 15-year absence.

Barca, who previously departed the Assembly in 1993 for a seat in Congress, replaces Rep. Jim Kreuser, who left to become Kenosha County executive.

“We have a lot of challenges, obviously,” Barca said in an interview Monday evening. “You know, the state’s hurting economically and, more importantly, just individual families are hurting. We really need to roll up our sleeves and go to work.”

Barca’s party controls the Assembly for the first time since 1994, holding a 52-46 majority, with one independent serving. Democrats retained their 18-15 majority in the Senate.

The remainder of the Kenosha-area delegation was re-elected in November.

Lawmakers were sworn in under the cloud of a projected record-high $5.4 billion budget shortfall and concerns that higher taxes and job cuts may be inevitable.

Details about how Gov. Jim Doyle expects to balance the budget won’t come for about a month. Monday’s swearing in of the newly elected members was mainly about ceremony.

But the overarching budget concerns weighed heavily on the minds of legislative leaders.

“We face a budget deficit of historic proportions,” newly elected Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville, said in his first speech. He urged a bipartisan approach to solving the state’s problems, saying the budget can’t be fixed without collaboration between political rivals.

Doyle is counting on getting money from the federal government to help. He and four other governors last week asked for $1 trillion as part of a national economic stimulus plan.

But he’s also talking about raising taxes in certain areas, like on cigarettes and oil companies, while hoping to avoid a general sales or income tax hike that could be used against him in a re-election bid in 2010.

Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, vowed to fight any tax increases, saying lawmakers of both parties agreed the tax burden was already too high.

“Increasing taxes — any taxes — will only make the burden higher,” he said in a speech on the Senate floor.

Kreuser, in Madison for the inauguration, was invited by Sheridan to make a few remarks to close out the opening session.

While he thanked his colleagues for his experiences in Madison, Kreuser implied he is happy with his new job.

“I’ve been home for the last six months almost every night, and the report from the Kreuser family is they like it,” he said. “So for the next six months, while you’re here, I’m going to be home every night, and I’m going to enjoy that.”

Kenosha-area lawmakers will serve on the following standing committees during the upcoming session:

— Sen. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie: Committee on Small Business, Emergency Preparedness, Technical Colleges and Consumer Protection (chairman); Joint Survey Committee on Retirement Systems (co-chairman) Committee on Commerce, Utilities, Energy and Rail; Committee on the Environment; Committee on Labor, Elections and Urban Affairs.

— Sen. Neal Kedzie, R-Elkhorn: Committee on Children and Families and Worforce Development; Committee on Commerce, Utilities, Energy and Rail; Committee on the Environment; Committee on Transportation, Tourism, Forestry and Natural Resources.

— Barca: Joint Audit Committee (chairman), Rules, Financial Institutions and Jobs, the Economy and Small Business.

— Rep. Samantha Kerkman, R-Randall: Ways and Means (ranking minority member), Joint Audit Committee, Judiciary and Ethics.

— Rep. Thomas Lothian, R-Williams Bay: Ways and Means, Consumer Protection and Renewable Energy and Rural Affairs.

— Rep. John Steinbrink, D-Pleasant Prairie: Transportation (chairman), Natural Resources, Ways and Means, Energy and Utilities and Fish and Wildlife.