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The Sacramento Bee, Calif., Dan Walters Column: California Will Lose a Chunk of Its Hard-Won Congressional Clout

Posted on: Tuesday, 7 March 2006, 12:00 CST

By Dan Walters, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Mar. 7--California surpassed New York to become the most populous state four decades ago. As its population doubled thereafter, it acquired not only the nation's largest congressional delegation (53 seats) but the largest any state has ever had.

That, one might think, would translate into a lot of congressional clout. For a variety of political reasons, however, California has wielded much less influence on Capitol Hill than its size would imply - beginning with the fact that it is a "donor state" that contributes substantially more to the federal treasury than it gets back in direct and indirect spending.

Occasionally, a Californian would navigate the congressional labyrinth to achieve some substantial power - Fresno's Bernie Sisk and San Francisco's Phil Burton come to mind - but more often, an ABC (Anywhere But California) attitude and squabbles within the delegation thwarted collective effort.

The very size of the delegation has been, oddly enough, an impediment, not only because it engendered internal discord, but because holding a congressional seat from California is something of a political dead end. In a state with a half-dozen congressional seats, each member represents a large chunk of its population and territory and therefore is a well-known figure, but in California, with dozens of seats, members are little known to the public, unless they become tainted by scandal, such as one that ensnared former Rep. Randy Cunningham recently.

Only in the past decade, after the 1994 Republican takeover, has California achieved some real clout in Congress, with Republicans Bill Thomas, Jerry Lewis and David Dreier assuming chairmanships of the Ways and Means, Appropriations and Rules committees, other Republicans moving into lesser leadership positions, and San Francisco Democrat Nancy Pelosi becoming the minority leader.

Whether these advances have done much for California's position vis-a-vis other states is questionable; we're still a donor state, for example. But they have made Californians important figures on national policy issues and have benefited the districts of those with power positions. The new transportation bill, for example, is loaded with earmarked projects for Kern County, Thomas' home.

Whatever power California has wielded in Congress, it will soon diminish because the 64-year-old Thomas announced Monday that he'll retire this year and the Ways and Means chairmanship will pass into other, non-California hands. Thomas' departure will not only reduce California's standing on Capitol Hill but close out a colorful chapter in the state's political history because he was not the usual bland GOP politician.

"Combative" is too mild a term to describe Thomas' acerbic, in-your-face politics, whether he was marking up a complex spending bill, spearheading a drive to change redistricting, or inflaming a decades-long feud in Kern County Republican politics between Thomas allies and Thomas-haters. He reminded some of the late Phil Burton (or his brother, longtime state Senate leader John Burton) and others of Tom DeLay, the bare-knuckle Texas congressman. He played to win, not merely make a respectable showing, and didn't care who was bruised in the process, even fellow Republicans.

Characteristically, Thomas didn't go quietly into the night. "I haven't finished my work and I have nine months to go. I'm not walking away into the sunset; I'm going to work," he said. "Just because I won't be in office doesn't mean I won't have any influence."

Nor were his enemies forgiving. Over the weekend, the conservative California Republican Assembly adopted a resolution calling him "emotionally unstable" and hailing his retirement as coming "none too soon.""Bill Thomas getting his congressional pension has the potential to save taxpayers billions of dollars," CRA President Mike Spence said Monday. "We look forward to a fiscal conservative replacing him in Congress."

Thomas' 22nd District will almost certainly remain Republican due to a lopsided GOP voter registration advantage. Thomas' protege, Assembly Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, is the early favorite to replace him, but state Sen. Roy Ashburn may also run. The duel would be a microcosm of Kern County's long-running feud.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Sacramento Bee

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