Washington – The U.S. Senate’s new Democratic leaders handed out committee assignments Tuesday and gave a coveted one to Sen. Ken Salazar, who will sit on the panel that controls tax law.
As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, the Colorado Democrat likely will delve into rewrites of the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax, as well as health policy and trade issues.
He’ll also help craft tax incentives – possibly for farmers who produce renewable energy.
“It’s a very powerful and very important committee not often given to a freshman member,” Salazar said. “I’m delighted to have that opportunity.”
Republicans are expected to make their committee assignments today.
Democrats will control all congressional committees starting in January. Committees are where most legislation starts and where lawmakers can more easily add amendments.
Finance is perhaps the Senate’s most powerful committee, several political analysts said. Because tax problems are universal, lobbyists will be seeking Salazar’s help, said Ross K. Baker, a political-science professor at Rutgers University.
“He’s going to be a very popular guy,” Baker said. “It will be a great (campaign) fundraising base for him.”
In addition, because all senators face constituent tax problems, Baker said, Salazar can help colleagues in exchange for what he needs from senators who sit on other committees. He also can try to write Colorado-specific tax provisions.
Giving Salazar a seat on the Finance Committee indicates Democrats want to make sure he stays in the Senate, Baker said.
“I suspect the Democrats really feel Colorado’s the promised land,” Baker said. “It’s their foothold in the mountain states.”
In addition, with Republicans naming Mel Martinez, R-Fla., as likely head of the Republican National Committee, “there’s clearly an effort by both parties to put the best face forward with Hispanics,” said Norman Ornstein, an analyst with American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank.
Some of the issues Salazar will deal with on the Finance Committee will be very sticky, Ornstein said. The alternative minimum tax, intended to prevent the ultra-rich from writing off most taxable income, now is snaring taxpayers in the $100,000 to $500,000 income range.
“It’s a tax that falls on the backs of middle-class America,” Salazar said.
But fixing the tax means losing billions in federal tax revenue, which would need to be recaptured in some way, such as by raising taxes on the very wealthy, Ornstein said.
“Going on this committee is no picnic,” Ornstein said.
Actually passing legislation that deals with taxes or any other controversial issue will be difficult, given how closely divided the Senate is after last week’s election, said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Staff writer Anne C. Mulkern can be reached at 202-662-8730 or amulkern@denverpost.com.
