Alabama House Speaker Mac McCutcheon said when he took the gavel in August.
As a special session on the budget began, he felt like he was drinking from a fire hose.
McCutcheon told The Associated Press that he is now settling into the job.
The Monrovia lawmaker replaced ousted Speaker Mike Hubbard, who was automatically removed from office in June after being convicted on ethics charges.
McCutcheon took the helm of a House dealing with a budget crisis and contentious gambling legislation and a fractured Republican majority.
The Republican House speaker says the budgets will be the biggest problem facing lawmakers when they convene this winter.
He also expects gambling legislation to resurface in the 2017 session, but offers no predictions on what lawmakers will do.