Gilroy
– For the first time in six years, U.S. Representative Mike
Honda (D-San Jose) is noticing smiles on the faces of his
colleagues in the halls of Congress.
Gilroy – For the first time in six years, U.S. Representative Mike Honda (D-San Jose) is noticing smiles on the faces of his colleagues in the halls of Congress.
He and fellow Democrats took control of both congressional houses in November and, with much fanfare surrounding their first 100 hours in power, are planning to push through a raft of legislation that has idled under Republican congressional control.
“We’re trying not to show our joy too much,” Honda said in a Tuesday telephone interview from his Washington office. “We’re going to recognize that the Republicans have a responsibility to represent their people too. We weren’t able to do that under their leadership. We’re going to be more sensitive to that.”
First, however, the Democratic leadership will try to enact bills that will put frowns on the faces of many Republicans. The menu includes increasing the minimum wage, advancing stem-cell research, allowing the government to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, and reducing interest rates on college loans.
In addition to shaping national laws, Honda stands in a unique position to help his home district, which includes Gilroy. He gave up a likely chairmanship on the House Science and Technology Committee to gain membership on the House Appropriations Committee. As the body that reviews congressional spending, it numbers among a handful of committees that touches almost every piece of legislation that passes through Congress. Its members stand in a key position to push through funding for projects in their home districts, though new ethics rules governing so-called earmarks have made it more difficult to slip multimillion-dollar projects into legislation.
“It’s not what it was, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t advantages to being on the committee,” said Terry Christensen, a political science professor at San Jose State University. “Other committees can say, ‘We ought to do this,’ but the actual writing of the check goes through that committee. That actually makes him powerful beyond that committee, because people will be looking to who’s on that committee and how they’re voting.”
Honda was guarded, however, about his ability to channel federal dollars into local infrastructure projects. For years, San Jose leaders have hoped to get federal assistance for a chunk of the $4.7-billion project to extend BART to San Jose. Officials in Gilroy, Morgan Hill and elsewhere in the county are also looking to Honda to pull down federal dollars for road improvements, levee construction and other infrastructure projects.
Honda tread lightly when asked about his ability to bring home the bacon.
“Certainly individual requests from our individual districts will be looked at,” he said, “but we want to make sure we don’t create a perception that we don’t have a process or that ethics and being transparent are not important.”
He said he does plan to resubmit legislation he authored that has idled under Republican control. The list includes:
n a bill to increase investments in nanotechnology,
n a bill that would make it harder for military recruiters to get student information from high schools,
n and legislation that would grant official status to the Amah Mutsun Indian Tribe.
Honda has supported the tribe’s efforts to gain federal recognition since he served as county supervisor in the ’90s. Though recognition of the tribe could open the door to large-scale development of Sargent Ranch – thousands of acres of the tribe’s ancestral lands just south of Gilroy – Honda has consistently “decoupled” the issues of recognition and development.
He said he plans to meet with tribal leaders in coming months before he moves forward on the legislation, and he plans to resubmit the military recruiter legislation and other bills in a matter of weeks. In the meantime, Honda will help Democrats push forward on a broad range of national legislation.
Georgia Trefts Garfink, treasurer of South Valley Republican Women Federated, said she has been “mightily disappointed” by the Republican-controlled government of the past six years. But she wasn’t much encouraged by the shift in power.
“I do think there will be some agreement, but I don’t think Washington’s going to change much,” she said. “I don’t think it will be more bipartisan or ethical, but I would be delighted if I was wrong.”
Christensen also doubted there would be a high level of bipartisanship, but he did not expect Democrats to seek retribution.
“I think the Democratic leaders are smart enough to know that could backfire on them,” he said. “They want some things done, and I think that’s why they’re trying to get a few things done quickly.”
A timer on Honda’s Web site on Tuesday afternoon shows less than seven hours ticked off the 100-hour time frame. For some political observers, the real test of the new Congress will come long after that clock has run out – in the months when Congress settles into its normal routine and Republicans fight to get their motions heard in committees and their legislation approved.
Alex Kennet, spokesman for the South County Democratic Club, was quick to point out that Democrats have a tough road ahead, and that it’s too early to predict how successfully they will govern.
“(Their bills) still have to go through both houses of Congress and across the president’s desk,” he said. “All three entities have to work together. Listen to the rhetoric, believe what you want, then call me in six months.”
