Washington Watch for Jan. 11, 2009

• By GERARD SHIELDS
• Advocate Washington bureau
• Published: Jan 11, 2009 - Page: 7B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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The 110th Congress that adjourned last month was the least-productive in 32 years, introducing nearly 14,000 pieces of legislation, of which 449 became law. The result is a success rate of 3.3 percent.

The Louisiana delegation didn’t fare much better, according to bill summaries by The Library of Congress. The nine-member contingent watched eight of its 224 proposed bills become law, about 4 percent, according to reviews of legislation on the library Web site, http://www.thomas.gov/.

Stephen Hess of the centrist Brookings Institution in Washington said the impact that one member can have on legislation is limited. “It’s hard unless you happen to be the chairman who controls the agenda,” Hess said.

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu saw 62 of the bills she introduced die. The one bill that did pass applied Senate gift shop funds to the Senate employee child care center. Landrieu also introduced companion legislation to a House bill that was approved naming the giant foyer of the new Capitol Visitors Center Emancipation Hall.

Landrieu did better with amendments to legislation, scoring 17 that were approved in the Senate. Several of the measures were related to recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Landrieu attributed the low success rate on bills to a divided Congress.
“I think there was a lot of grandstanding and posturing,” Landrieu said.

With Democrats now in control of the Senate and House by wider margins, along with capturing The White House, Democratic legislation should be more successful, said Landrieu, who takes over the chair of the Senate Small Business Committee.
“That’s going to change with the new Congress,” she said.

U.S. Sen. David Vitter watched 58 bills that he introduced fail to become law. Vitter also did better with amendments, having 10 approved. Among the measures tacked on to other legislation by Vitter were new ethics rules for Senate members and allowing seniors to import prescription drugs from Canada for personal use.

U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander had two of his eight bills passed, both of which had to do with naming post offices. Of the 449 bills approved in Congress, 144 — one in three — renamed federal buildings, according to the congressional analysis by the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call.

Though the percentage of bills passed has dropped over the past two decades, the number of ceremonial bills has risen, according to the newspaper, indicating that the substantive work of Congress has dwindled. One of the bills offered by Alexander — and approved as a Senate amendment sponsored by Landrieu — called for the Food and Drug Administration to permit the sale of baby turtles, a cottage industry in Louisiana.

Former U.S. Rep. Richard Baker, R-Baton Rouge, drew a blank on the 14 bills he introduced. Baker, who retired in February, was successful in getting a resolution adopted commending the LSU Tigers football team for winning the national championship.

U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, also failed to get any of his 10 bills passed. Former U.S. Rep. Don Cazayoux saw two of his bills and an amendment pass the House. Cazayoux’s legislation called for a study of the link between world energy policy and national security.

Another Cazayoux measure allows homeowners to deduct more their losses from hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, was the most-active House delegation member. Jefferson introduced 33 bills — one of which passed — naming a New Orleans post office. Before he left to become governor, then-U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-Metairie, failed to get 11 of his bills approved, although Jindal got three amendments passed.