Dick Spotswood: Huffman in strong position among congressional Democrats

San Rafael Democrat Jared Huffman just got a big promotion. The North Bay/North Coast’s member of the U.S. House of Representatives is on his way to becoming the chair of the powerful House Natural Resources Committee.

The Democratic Caucus approved making Huffman the ranking Democrat on the committee. A “ranking member” is the minority party’s leader on every committee. Whenever the Democrats regain control of the House, Huffman will automatically become committee chair. That brings real clout.

The Natural Resources Committee’s mandate is broad. It “considers legislation about American energy production, mineral lands and mining, fisheries and wildlife, public lands, oceans, Native Americans, irrigation and reclamation.”

In Washington, House and Senate committee chairs hold the ultimate power to make or break legislation. Huffman succeeds Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona) who withdrew his reappointment effort when it was clear Huffman had the caucus votes to prevail.

Some California elected officials subject to term limits try to stay in politics by running for “higher” offices. There are no term limits in Congress. In his role representing District 2, Huffman has always been clear that his career was in the House. It was a wise decision.

Huffman told me, “One of the most interesting things about these caucus elections is how hard you have to work – meeting with and talking to around 200 busy colleagues, and all of the phone messages and texts that are necessary to make that happen – and then the cutthroat elements … you try to reliably gauge your support among a cohort of politicians that don’t always tell you the truth.

“You never count someone unless you hear the word, ‘yes.’ Paradoxically, you come to appreciate the people who just tell you, ‘Sorry, I’m not with you on this.’ At least they’re honest.”

I asked Huffman what his short-term goal is as ranking member.

“We need to play good defense, which means I need to make sure Democrats are well organized, totally prepared, and effective in the face of the coming attacks on our environment.

“At the same time, I want to change the committee culture by building Natural Resources into a committee where members are fully engaged and feel productive – where the top talent in our caucus wants to go or stay, as opposed to being a stepping stone to what some perceive as more prestigious committees.”

Looking long term, Huffman replied to my query: What will be your top priority when you ultimately become committee chair?

“When I become chair, hopefully in two years, we go back on offense. That means driving policies to protect and restore the environment and taking the climate and biodiversity crises seriously. It also means vigorous oversight to hold the Trump administration accountable in ways a GOP majority would never do.”

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Let’s compare the November results for statewide ballot propositions with their outcome in Marin.

Proposition 2: Authorizes bonds for school facilities. In Marin 66.2% voted yes, while 58.7% did so statewide.

Proposition 3: Universal right to marriage, “yes” Marin 85.7%, statewide 62.6%.

Proposition 4: Bonds for safe water, “yes” Marin 71%, statewide 58.8%.

Proposition 5: Bonds for affordable housing, “yes” Marin 49.7%, statewide 45%.

Proposition 6: Eliminate prisoners’ work requirement, Marin 56.4%, statewide 45%.

Proposition 32: Raise minimum wage, “yes” Marin 62.5%, statewide 49.3%

Proposition 33: Allow more local rent control, “yes” Marin 35.8%, statewide 40%.

Proposition 34: Restrict prescription spending, “yes” Marin 73%, statewide 67.9%

Proposition 35: Permanent funding for Medi-Cal finding, “yes” Marin 73%, statewide 67.9%

Proposition 36: Increased criminal sentencing, “yes” Marin 59.7%, statewide 68.4%

Marin voters came to the same conclusion on all statewide ballot propositions except for propositions 6 and 32. While a majority of California voters said yes on Proposition 3, the repeal of the ban on same sex marriage, it carried Marin in a landslide.

Columnist Dick Spotswood of Mill Valley writes on local issues Sundays and Wednesdays. Email him at spotswood@comcast.net.