TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2010


KLMNO Freshmen lawmakers get boost from popular bills


Vulnerable legislators get noticed for backing slam-dunk measures


by Ben Pershing


When a popular federal tax credit for first-time home buyers was set to expire in June, the House and Senate sprang into ac- tion, approving a bill to extend the credit for three months to people with home sales already under contract. One of the lead sponsors of the measure — which passed 409 to 5 — was Rep. Frank M. Kratovil Jr. (D-Md.), a fresh- man whose committee assign- ments don’t involve tax policy. Similarly, Virginia Rep. Glenn


Nye (D) got a bill passed last year that would launch a program to provide business advice to vet- erans. His Hampton Roads-based district — which is high on Re- publican target lists — has a huge military presence. Nye was also the lead author, among 55 total sponsors, of a bill to help Israel acquire rocket-de- fense systems. It passed the House in May. And Nye has spon- sored a half-dozen successful amendments to other bills, in- cluding provisions to help home- owners who bought toxic drywall made in China — a hot-button is- sue.


A cool blast


Fellow Virginia Rep. Tom Per- riello (D) got his name on top of a popular measure to revoke the health-insurance industry’s an- titrust exemption. The bill had 73 co-sponsors. Their issues may be different,


but Kratovil, Nye and Perriello have something in common — all three Democrats were elected in 2008 and face competitive reelec- tion races this year, which might help explain why their party lead- ers were happy to have them sponsor slam-dunk bills. Giving vulnerable members the chance to put their names on popular legislation is standard practice on Capitol Hill, and one of the perks of being in power. At a news briefing before the home- buyer credit measure passed, a reporter asked House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) whether it would be helpful for Kratovil and a few other fresh- men sponsors to be able to go back to their districts and take credit for the bill. “Gee, I hope so,” Hoyer said, prompting laughter in the room. Freshmen lawmakers don’t of-


ten get invited on “Meet the Press” or other high-profile me- dia opportunities. They don’t chair committees, and they’re un- likely to be in the room when fi- nal deals are cut on big-ticket leg- islation. So they’re particularly dependent on the largess of party leaders.


“It’s very difficult for vulner- able freshmen to get visibility without the help of the leader- ship,” said Ron Bonjean, a former aide to House and Senate Repub- lican leaders who works as a lob- byist. “To help them back home, they’re often given high-profile assignments and bills to champi- on.” Just a few months after taking


office last year, freshman Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio) was the lead sponsor of a resolution dis- approving of the bonuses being paid to executives at insurance giant AIG. The role earned her some valuable media attention on an issue dominating the news at the time.


Kilroy said House Democratic leaders had gone out of their way to help her and other first-term members develop bills — and get exposure. “They’re not old-school, which


was, ‘Freshmen should be seen and not heard,’ ” Kilroy said. In addition to authoring stand- alone bills, vulnerable legislators are also frequently given the chance to offer amendments — with C- SPAN cameras rolling — to the bills of others. The party in the majority, via the Rules Com- mittee, has wide latitude in de- ciding which amendments will come to a vote on the floor and which won’t. In May, for example, the House overwhelmingly passed a bill —


authored by second-term Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) — to create a variety of programs to help small businesses, particularly those owned by veterans. Votes were allowed on the House floor on 10 amendments, eight of them sponsored by freshmen (includ- ing one by Kratovil that squeaked by on a 427 to 0 vote). Veterans’ issues have become a popular legislation subject. Freshman Rep. Harry Teague (D- N.M.) got an affirmative vote in March for his bill creating federal grants for energy companies to provide employee training to vet- erans.


Although House leaders can be


generous, freshmen don’t get ev- erything handed to them on a platter, and Kratovil wasn’t exact- ly new to the topic he and his co- authors addressed in June. Kratovil teamed with freshman


Rep. Travis Childers (D-Miss.) last September on a bill that would have extended the home- buyer credit through November 2010 — which, coincidentally or not, is when the two lawmakers and their colleagues face reelec- tion. “This is definitely an issue he’s been working hard on for a while,” said Kratovil spokesman Kevin Lawlor, adding that after the bill’s passage, “we can go home and say, ‘Look, this is some- thing we’ve done.’ ” ben.pershing@wpost.com


S


B5


Metro board is criticized over crash


NTSB says agency had breakdowns in safety, oversight management


by Derek Kravitz


Federal safety officials review- ing the fatal June 2009 Red Line crash criticized Metro’s board of directors Monday, while its chair- man fired back at recent findings that Metro failed to provide prop- er oversight of its safety pro- cedures. Chairman Peter Benjamin said during a public meeting between Metro and members of the Na- tional Transportation Safety Board that the transit agency “lost its innocence” after the acci- dent near Fort Totten Station, which killed nine people and in- jured dozens. It forced Metro to reevaluate itself and to “no longer rely on our history” and once strong safety record, he said. But Benjamin also questioned the NTSB’s findings that Metro suffered a “systemic breakdown of safety management” and a “lack of effective oversight,” not- ing that Metro’s board is often criticized for micromanaging. “This report seems to go in the opposite direction, and it’s not exactly clear what you want us to do on our part,” he said. However, Benjamin also said


that Metro’s board “intends to en- sure that, to the best of our abili- ty, each and every [NTSB] recom- mendation to Metro . . . is imple- mented.” As part of that commitment,


Metro’s board will re-create a safety committee and revise Met- ro’s mission statement and board procedures to reflect the agency’s “commitment to safety,” Benja- min said.


One of the NTSB’s 23 recom-


mendations dealt directly with Metro’s board, with NTSB board members saying Metro needed to foster an “atmosphere of trust.” But NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman, who was especially critical of Metro board members last month, calling them “tone- deaf,” took a more conciliatory tone Monday, saying the agency appeared to be “making a com- mitment to safety.” Several Metro board members said they were particularly struck by the three-dimensional ani- mated re-creation of the accident, which depicted Train No. 112 reaching speeds of 53 mph before it rear-ended a stopped train. The operator applied the emergency brake about three seconds after coming into view of the train


ahead, but that only slowed the train a few miles per hour before the crash.


“I had a heavy heart when I saw


Train 112 rounding the bend. . . . It was gut-wrenching,” Metro board member Elizabeth M. Hewlett said. Federal investigators found


that Metro’s automatic train-con- trol system failed to detect one train and instead directed an- other to advance toward it at full speed. The crash was the deadli- est accident in Metrorail’s his- tory. The NTSB’s report also said


that a quarter of Metro’s rail cars, the oldest in the fleet, offer little protection in a crash, posing an “unacceptable risk to Metrorail users.” The NTSB lacks any stat- utory power to enforce its recom- mendations, which it makes without regard for how much it would cost to implement them. Metro has set aside $30 mil- lion over the next three years to carry out safety improvements. The agency’s interim general manager, Richard Sarles, told the NTSB that he is reviewing the specific recommendations and Metro’s efforts at compliance. Metro gave approval last month for Kawasaki, the manu- facturer of the next generation of rail cars, to begin building re- placements for the older 1000 se- ries rail cars, which are expected to arrive starting in 2013. The company’s Lincoln, Neb.-based plant will build 428 rail cars at a cost of $886 million. Sarles also said his team is evaluating how service and safety would be af- fected if the older fleet of cars was removed earlier. Metro board member Jim Gra-


ham, the D.C. Council member (D-Ward 1) who was chairman when the crash occurred, dis- cussed the difficulty in replacing the rail cars as quickly as the NTSB wants and said the acci- dent resulted from a failure in technology — although “I think this board needs to be account- able, and I want to be account- able as a member of this board.” “You say to yourself, ‘What could I have done differently?’ ” Graham said. “What could you have done about this circuitry test?”


“I conclude that I don’t know


what I could have done.” Hersman, the NTSB chairman, replied: “The right question to ask is not what you could have done, but what are you going to do?”


kravitzd@washpost.com


Staff writer Robert Thomson contributed to this report.


It’s unclear where Metro brawl started


brawl from B1 National Park Service worker Curtis Brook helps young tourists cool off at the plaza in front of the Lincoln Memorial.


The next few days are expected to be among the hottest this year in the nation’s capital, with temperatures predicted to ap- proach 100 degrees. High humidity and only minor cooling overnight have sent residents and tourists alike seeking ways to keep from overheating.


Activist proposes term limits in Montgomery montgomery from B1


would not take effect until 2014. The rule would cover the county executive and the county’s nine council members. The proposal is one of two ref- erendums that could be put be- fore Montgomery voters in No- vember if enough signatures are validated. Volunteer firefighters are seeking to repeal a new law authorizing an ambulance fee in Montgomery. Opponents of the fee argue that it could undermine the volunteer system. Under a separate set of refer- endum rules for repealing laws passed by the council, fee oppo- nents need 30,733 signatures, electoral officials said. They’ve already turned in 31,777, officials said, and are continuing to gath- er new names before a deadline this month.


On term limits, Ficker is pro-


jecting confidence, although some officials said that many of his efforts have failed in the past. Of course, their dismissals have been wrong before — his 2008 ballot question making it tough- er to pass property tax increases passed despite widespread oppo- sition among officials. This time, “the reception has been very favorable, because peo- ple think we need fresh ideas in the county government,” Ficker said. “If you can’t get it done in 12


years, you’re not going to get it done. Right now they can serve forever. They can serve as long as Robert Byrd.” Byrd, a Democrat, represented


West Virginia in the Senate for more than a half a century before he died in June at 92. There’s no one of remotely comparable po- litical longevity in Montgomery, but three council members would be affected, if they win re- election and want another term. The limits would cover those “who will have served three or more consecutive terms at noon on the first Monday of December 2014.”


Council President Nancy Flo- reen (At Large) is seeking the Democratic nomination to run for a third term in November, as is council member George L. Le- venthal (At Large). Council mem- ber Phil Andrews (D-Rockville- Gaithersburg) has no primary and is running for a fourth term in November. “In Montgomery County, in-


cumbency is no guarantee of a continued ability to stay in office. Our residents judge us pretty thoroughly,” Floreen said. “I’m not afraid of my record. But to just say you need new people ev- ery four years, just because, doesn’t mean you’ve solved the problem. You may have other problems.” Purging expertise is one, Flo-


reen said, adding that term limits deter “a long-term commitment to thinking about the future. If you’re not there to be responsible for it, why would you care?” “It takes away voter choice, it penalizes experience, and it ad- dresses a nonexistent problem,” Andrews said. Leventhal said he has not con- sidered electoral plans past the Sept. 14 primary and declined to offer his views on term limits. “We have smart voters in


Montgomery County. They will make their own decision. They don’t need my guidance,” he said. Two of Ficker’s potential Dem-


ocratic opponents for the Up- county council seat in November, former county planning chair- man Royce Hanson and Del. Craig L. Rice, said they oppose term limits. The ongoing struggle over the ambulance fee has extended what has been an ugly budget season. County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) has argued that over- turning the fee, which he has championed for years and which passed the council in May, would strip away needed funds. In a recent letter to the council,


Leggett wrote that the fee “will fund critically needed services and would bring in $14million a year — and $200 million over 10 years — in revenue from monies already set aside by private insur-


ance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid. County residents with health insurance will pay noth- ing — no co-pays, no deductibles, nothing.” He added that county residents without insurance also pay nothing. Should the referendum make the ballot, Leggett said that he would ask budget officials to find $14million in budget cuts as soon as possible, and that those “will certainly hit public safety, including our fire and rescue ser- vices.” Leggett also said that contro- versial employee furloughs to save about $10million were “proving challenging to our de- livery of services.” “I think it’s a transparent at- tempt to scare people,” said An- drews, who opposes the fee. Eric N. Bernard, executive di-


rector of the Montgomery Coun- ty Volunteer Fire-Rescue Associa- tion, contends that the fee will cause some people to hesitate to call 911; fee supporters say that has not happened elsewhere. Bernard’s objection also is philosophical. “Much of the service, at least


40 percent, is provided by volun- teers who don’t get paid. It’s wrong to be collecting revenue from volunteer service,” he said. The fee could also discourage do- nations, he said. larism@washpost.com


GERALDMARTINEAU FOR THE WASHINGTON POST and called for backup, which in- cluded officers who had been at Gallery Place, he said, and other customers also began calling po- lice. Webb said police were unsure


what sparked the conflict but do not think it was a continuous fight that began at Gallery Place. Metro board members said


Monday they had not discussed the incident. Jeff C. McKay, a Met- ro board member and Fairfax County supervisor, said more transit police are needed to deter such fights. “At the end of the day, the only


way to intimidate young people from doing this type of stuff is to have a uniformed officer there and the only way you do that is to increase the number of transit police,” McKay said. It was the second reported


brawl involving large numbers of young Metro riders in recent months, and some elected offi- cials called for improved security and other approaches, such as ex-


tending the teen curfew. Some Metro board members said they planned to address the issue when the board meets next month. Metro’s board usually does not hold meetings in August but met Monday with members of the National Transportation Safety Board to discuss a report on the June 2009 Red Line crash. Webb said Friday’s incident was under investigation. People with information may call the in- vestigations unit at 202-962-1792. Webb said that people who wit- ness incidents should report them as soon as they see some- thing that they perceive is unsafe. They can notify the train opera- tor on the intercom at each end of a railcar or call Transit Police di- rectly at 202-962-2121. “We want the system to be


safe,” he said. The important thing to remember, Webb added, is to not deal with a troublemaker directly, which could escalate the situation: “Don’t engage.” kravitzd@washpost.com


drgridlock@washpost.com williamsc@washpost.com


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