Valley lawmakers focus on local needs, not Bush

Published online on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008

WASHINGTON -- The state of the San Joaquin Valley matters more to the region's lawmakers than anything President Bush might have said Monday night.

An unpopular lame duck facing a Democrat-controlled Congress, Bush is a diminished force on Capitol Hill. Consequently, lawmakers are tending to their parochial priorities while they expect an election year that makes big-picture legislating difficult.

"I'm not sure what's going to get done this year, if anything," said Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia.

A farm bill remains in limbo. Immigration reform is dead.

Partisanship is alive, and some lawmakers are figuring their best opportunities may require a new Congress and a new president.

"Some work is going to be done, but it will be a bit of a logjam," said Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa.

On Monday, notably, Bush emphasized what he doesn't want: lots of earmarks.

Bush demanded that Congress cut the number of so-called "earmarks" in half. Congress approved roughly 11,000 of these targeted spending items last year, ranging from $133,500 for Modesto's emergency radios to $185,000 for curriculum development in Clovis.

Notwithstanding Bush's anti-earmark rhetoric, local wish lists probably won't be shrinking soon.

"This is more campaign tactics and rhetoric than a real proposal," Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, said of Bush's earmark focus. "It's a talking point."

San Joaquin Valley city, county and business leaders already have been preparing their latest earmark proposals, with annual lobbying trips starting within a few weeks. Individual Valley counties now send several dozen representatives to Capitol Hill, typically bearing packets requesting a dozen or so local earmarks.

Stanislaus County officials, for instance, will champion earmark proposals that include a project to stop flooding along Orestimba Creek near the town of Newman. Cardoza called the project "totally justifiable" and an example of why Bush's State of the Union pitch misses the mark.

Nunes, though, aligned himself with Bush and said he is "fed up" with how certain senior lawmakers take home millions of dollars in projects while other lawmakers must "scrounge around." Nunes insisted he will tell local communities this year that it's time for an earmark moratorium -- a potentially unpopular message.

Rather than a yearlong earmark moratorium, which may be politically untenable, congressional Republicans could satisfy themselves with procedural reforms following a round of attacks on congressional Democrats.

"Folks want the ability to get some local spending, so long as it is properly noticed," Radanovich said.

Strictly as prime-time spectacle, Bush's final State of the Union speech Monday retained its power to captivate. Congressional offices, as usual, juggled multiple requests for the single guest ticket they had to distribute.

Sometimes, the politically active score. Fresno County farmer Debbie Jacobsen, a member of the county's farm bureau leadership, got her speech ticket from Radanovich, while Cardoza hosted Sacramento-based political consultant Larry Sheingold.

Sometimes, these tickets reach the politically unjaded. In Nunes' office, the ticket fell by chance to Visalia native and Pepperdine University student Justin Wood. "He is very excited," Nunes spokesman Andrew House said.

As an example of agenda-setting, though, the speech confronted a tough crowd despite the traditional standing ovations. While Cardoza noted that Bush "can still say no, can still veto bills," the president can draw on less public support when he does so. Only 28% of Californians surveyed in December approved of Bush's job performance, according to the Field Poll.

Only 20% of Californians approved of the job Congress is doing.

At least one local House member, Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, missed the president's speech. Costa had remained in California for an uncle's funeral service, taking the red-eye flight late Monday to arrive in time for a hearing today on San Joaquin Valley water issues.