New congressional makeup may tilt toward industry agenda

Nov. 14, 2002
Boosting hopes that the White House's energy agenda will move forward, Republicans in elections Nov. 5 won narrow control of the US Senate and expanded their hold in the House of Representatives.

Maureen Lorenzetti
Washington Editor

WASHINGTON, DC, Nov. 14 UPDATE -- Boosting industry hopes that the White House's energy agenda will move forward, Republicans in elections Nov. 5 won narrow control of the US Senate and expanded their hold in the House of Representatives for the new congressional terms that begin January 2003.

"Policy proposals on energy, chemical risks, clean air, and other issues are poised to come up for approval in both houses of Congress in the months ahead. During that time many of the bills initially passed or favored by the Republican House of Represenatives will now have a substantially increased chance of gaining approval and making their way to the president's desk," said the Competitive Enterprise Institute, an industry supported think tank.

Democrats control the Senate during a brief postelection "lame-duck" session that started Nov. 12, but comprehensive energy legislation appears to be off the table until next year. Even the idea of a streamlined "energy-lite" bill containing just pipeline safety and nuclear plant insurance legislation garners only moderate interest among lawmakers, especially in the divided Senate. A final decision on energy legislation is expected before Congress formally adjourns for the year, which was a possibility at presstime as early as Nov. 15.

More likely to be on the shortened legislative agenda are terrorism insurance issues and the creation of a new Department of Homeland Security. Industry has interest in both issues; investors may be more interested in energy infrastructure projects if Congress addresses the insurance issue. And with regard to Homeland Security, industry wanted assurances from lawmakers that the US Environmental Protection Agency will not monitor chemical manufacturing and transport. Congress is also expected to pass a temporary funding measure to keep the federal government operating until the 108th Congress begins. Decisions on the 2003 fiscal year that began Oct. 1 will be decided in late winter and could take until early spring.

Post-lame-duck
Industry is also studying who will be the new faces of power on Capitol Hill come January. In the House Republicans expanded their control by at least four seats. A few committee chairman slots will change because of retirements, but the basic leadership is expected to stay in place. Industry is watching to see who will take over the Committee on Resources, a panel that considers public land policy. Another important post up for grabs is the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior; that panel oversees spending for many of the oil and gas programs within the departments of Energy and the Interior.

Democrats meanwhile are making dramatic changes: Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) stepped down, ostensibly to prepare for a presidential bid in 2004; liberal Nancy Pelosi of California was expected to win the post.

In the Senate, Trent Lott of Mississippi is expected to return to Majority Leader; his counterpart Tom Daschle (D-SD) will likely be the Senate's top Democratic leader come January.

Meanwhile, the early favorite to take control of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is Pete Domenici (R-NM), replacing a fellow New Mexico lawmaker, Jeff Bingaman (D-NM). Sen. Frank Murkowski, now the senior Republican on that committee, and a familiar face in the debate over leasing acreage on the coastal plain of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, won his governor's race and will be picking a successor to serve out the remaining 2 years of his term.

Both of New Mexico's senators are supportive of energy tax incentives to encourage domestic production, but as a Republican Domenici is seen by some lobbyists as being more "reasonable" on environmental issues that impact the oil and gas business. These include controversial public land access issues, most notably ANWR leasing, but access concerns are also becoming more prevalent in the Rocky Mountain region.

Similarly, industry officials have large expectations that Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla), the likely new chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, will be helpful on downstream issues such as low-sulfur gasoline and diesel fuel rules.

Although having control of the committees will be useful, the balance of power is still fragile enough that extremely controversial subjects, such as ANWR, will be subject to gridlock under Senate rules that require a "supermajority" of 60 votes to shut down debate. Republicans currently hold 51 seats in the Senate; that number could change depending on the results of a Dec. 8 run-off in Louisiana, although incumbent Mary Landrieu (D-La.) is favored to retain control of the seat.