by Sandra Emerson
The Inland Empire's loss of two longtime members of Congress may mean a slowdown in federal funding and projects for the region.
Reps. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, and David Dreier, R-San Dimas, have both announced they will not seek re-election after each spending more than 30 years representing their Southern California districts in Congress.
"It is a significant blow to the region and its influence in Washington," said Dan Schnur, director of the Unruh Institute of Politics at USC.
Dreier spent 32 years representing most of the San Gabriel Valley and parts of San Bernardino County. Lewis represented the Inland Empire for 33 years.
Their announcements to not seek reelection came after a 14-member California Citizens Redistricting Commission in July approved final versions of new district maps for Congress, the Assembly, state Senate as well as the Board of Equalization.
Dreier and Lewis each would have been forced to run this year in districts whose demographics were not so attractive to them.
The loss of two prominent, long-time representatives will be felt locally, regionally and statewide because they influence the business of Congress on many levels, such as in their caucuses, committees, subcommittees, in consultation with administrators about current policies and as members who speak for local districts in the larger chamber, said Renee Van Vechten, political science professor at the University of Redlands.
As a result, the region will likely see a reduction in federal dollars "if only because the personal gravitas and relationships that these two men built up over their long careers will no longer figure into the complex negotiations over budgets and appropriations that they participated in regularly," Van Vechten said.
Lewis and Dreier held powerful positions on House committees that enabled them to expedite federal funding and work to the region, said Jack Pitney, professor at Claremont McKenna College.
Lewis is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee and Dreier is chairman of the House Committee on Rules.
"Well, when you're a senior member of the Appropriations Committee or chair of the Rules Committee, you get phone calls returned really fast," Pitney said. "The next person will have to wait a little longer to get a call back from a federal agency."
However, the impact of their loss would have been much more pronounced before the ban on Congressional earmarks last year, Schnur said.
"But even under the new set of rules there's all sorts of things that a member can do to steer projects and opportunities to his district, and Lewis and Dreier are two of the best at that," Schnur said.
Dreier sponsored or co-sponsored 16 earmarks totaling more than $19 million in fiscal year 2010, according to data collected by Taxpayers For Common Sense and OpenSecrets.org.
Lewis had 62 sponsored and co-sponsored earmarks totaling more than $97.5 million in that same period.
Doug Johnson, fellow at the Rose Institute of State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College, said the Inland Empire will do just fine with new representation in Congress.
"The difference between someone with seniority and someone who is new is much less today than even five years ago now that earmarks are largely a thing of the past," Johnson said.
"You still need a wise voice in D.C. who can speak up for what's needed, but it no longer needs to be someone with 20 years of seniority."
But even in a time when earmarks are banned, Van Vechten said senior members of Congress have insider expertise on how to navigate the federal government.
Van Vechten said the use of "letter-marking" or "phone-marking" to secure funds for districts without having to "earmark" funds in bills, is one example. This is simply a legislator asking an agency directly for funds for their district.
"Some might call that sneaky; others call it savviness. It's a lot less likely that a newer representative would know how to exploit these alternative routes to solving problems," she said. "Of course it almost goes without saying that those who don't like these Republicans' ideological perspectives are probably happy to trade Congressional seniority and its perks for new legislators who better reflect their own viewpoints."
Loss of Lewis and Dreier could impact region (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin)
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