Snip of article from the Seattle Post Intelligencer:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/292366_murray15.html

With Cantwell's seat on the Finance Committee, Murray's leadership position, her chairwomanship of the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee and Rep. Norm Dicks' assumed chairmanship of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, Washington state will have its most muscular profile in Congress in a generation.

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While she was not on the ballot, Sen. Patty Murray may have been the biggest winner this year.  With her election as Secretary of the Democratic Caucus and Democrats now in the majority, her position as a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee is strengthened.  Serving on the Appropriations Committee is one of the most desired positions in Congress because the committee decides how and where federal funds are allocated.  Even in 2005 while in the minority, Murray secured $516 million for transportation projects in Washington, including $220 million to replace the Alaska Way Viaduct in Seattle.  Now she will chair the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, giving her even greater power to allocate federal money for the state, though she will be hamstrung to some degree by the cost of the Iraq War and the massive federal deficit which built up during 6 years of Republican control in D.C.

Murray isn't the first Washington Senator to serve on Appropriations.  The late, great six-term Senator Warren Magnuson did also.  In fact, during his final term he was the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, one of the ultimate power positions in the Federal Government.  Murray is only 56 and already into her third term, one wonders if she too will someday have enough seniority to chair the Committee.

Newly reelected Sen. Maria Cantwell just earned a slot on the other highly desired committee in the Senate, the Finance Committee, which oversees tax and trade policies, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.  Cantwell said she plans to use her new position to push for tax policies which will benefit both Washington state and the middle class, such as a $4000 tax deduction for college tuition, the state sales tax deduction and a Research & Development tax credit.  She also has worked to increase Medicare reimbursement rates to help improve access for seniors and to increase the Pell Grant award.

With Murray in the leadership and our senators on arguably the two most powerful committees in the Senate, things look good for our federal delegation.  We are far more likely to see progress on Washington state priorities such as the establishment of the Wild Sky Wilderness in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and clean-up of Hanford and Puget Sound.

Frank Hill, a DC insider, wrote an article on the importance of seniority within the U.S. Senate.  This is a snippet:

http://www.capstrat.com/cs/insight/articles/ussenate.cfm

And in the US Senate, seniority is what counts, rating something close to total devotion. Seniority leads to plum committee assignments and influence that far exceeds the reach of even the most powerful House members. The rules of the Senate, the comity and relationships necessary to build a consensus almost demands that a state send and keep their senators there over a long period of time to ensure maximum effectiveness for the state.

Turnover in the Senate has been unfortunate not only for personal political careers, but also for the welfare of North Carolina. Without the requisite seniority, the state has not gained enough clout to land positions on such important committees as the Senate Appropriations Committee or the Senate Finance Committee. North Carolina has suffered in many respects, some of which are becoming more evident as the state's economy is transitioning from an agricultural/textile/furniture base to a global, high-tech economy.

To compete with other states, North Carolina will need more than its fair share in terms of research and development funding and direct investment from sources such as the Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health and Homeland Security. All of these agencies are now funding the next generation of technologies from nanotechnology to optronics. The states with senior senators on the Appropriations Committee have a decided advantage since the majority of earmarked funding goes to their states.

It is as simple as that.

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