WASHINGTON — Arkansas’ U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin of Little Rock was picked Friday to serve on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, something he said takes him out of the running for higher office in two years.
“I will not seek the Senate in 2014, and I will not seek the governorship in 2014,” he said. “I’m going to focus on thisjob.”
The Ways and Means Committee is the starting point for a wide range of legislation that will be hotly debated as Congress attempts to hammer out a deficit-reduction deal. The panel crafts policy on the tax code, entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, and foreign trade.
Griffin said he had been considering a Senate or Arkansas governorship race, but changed his mind when he got the committee spot, which he called “the honor of a lifetime.”
“As a new member, I’m going to listen a lot and learn a lot and work to get up to speed on the taxcode,” he said.
Griffin said he has not received Ways and Means Committee subcommittee assignments yet.
Three other Republican congressmen - Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, Tim Scott of South Carolina and Todd Young of Indiana - alsowere named to the committee.
Because of its workload, an assignment to the Ways and Means Committee precludes members from serving on other panels. Griffin will give up his seats on the House Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Judiciary committees.
“It’s definitely an A-list committee, especially now, considering what Congress is dealing with,” said Jennifer Duffy, senior editor of “The Cook Political Report”, a Washington trade publication. “If they do substantial tax reform, it’s where you want to be.”
Duffy said the committee’s high profile has diminished since Arkansas’ U.S. Rep.Wilbur Mills was committee chairman from the late 1950s until the mid-1970s. Power has tilted toward party leaders, like the speaker of the House and his lieutenants, and away from committee chairmen.
“The committee still has to hold hearings, take votes and take up legislation, even if they’re doing the leadership’s bidding,” Duffy said. “It’s still powerful. I can see Griffin staying there for a while.”
Griffin, who said he was the first Arkansas Republican ever to be named to the committee, follows in the footsteps of several Arkansas politicians who have sat on the panel.
Mills, who like Griffin represented the state’s 2nd District, was named to the committee in 1942. He was chairman from 1958-75 and served on the committee until 1977.
Other Arkansans followed: Former Reps. Jim Guy Tucker and Beryl Anthony served consecutively on the committee until Anthony was defeated in the 1992 Democratic House primary.
Kay Goss, a native Arkansan whose biography of Mills was published in November, said Mills was regarded as one of the most important men in Washington when he was chairman, particularly during the Kennedy administration when he and Kennedy, both Democrats, met regularly to create tax and health-care policy.
“He went by the White House almost every day in those years,” she said.
President Barack Obama, Speaker of the House John Boehner and other congressional leaders are the principals in the current budget negotiations. But if they come up with a framework to avoid going over the “fiscal cliff” - a combination of deep spending cuts and the expiration in January of George W. Bushera tax cuts - Griffin’s newcommittee would step in.
“Ways and Means will have to work it out and actually frame the legislation,” she said. “All the issues being discussed in Congress at this time revolve around the committee’s jurisdiction.”
Given the intense focus on Capitol Hill on deficit reduction, Griffin said, the work on the committee will be “critically important.”
Griffin had been one of several Republicans mentioned as potential challengers to Arkansas’ U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, a Democrat up for re-election in 2014. He’d also been seen as a strong candidate for governor, a job that will be open in 2014 because Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, is term-limited.
Pryor said Griffin called him Friday morning to tell him about the committee assignment.
“This is going to be great for Arkansas,” Pryor said.
He declined to speculate what it might mean for his own bid for re-election in two years.
“I don’t really want to think about 2014 because I think people are hopeful we’re focusing on the fiscal cliff,” Pryor said.
Will Bond of Little Rock, chairman of the state Democratic Party, said Griffin’s decision not to run for the U.S. Senate in 2014 is a sign that Pryor has been “a great senator” for Arkansas, has a strong approval rating and has done a good job.
“There is no reason to challenge him,” he said.
Griffin’s decision not to run for governor is a signal that there is going to be a strong Democratic candidate for governor in 2014, Bond said.
Democratic Attorney General Dustin McDaniel already is raising money for the governor’s race, and there may be other candidates.
Highway Commissioner John Burkhalter of Little Rock and former Lt. Gov. Bill Halter of North Little Rock have said they are considering running for governor as Democrats.
On Friday, Halter and McDaniel issued statements congratulating Griffin on his new post.
Doyle Webb of Benton, chairman of the state Republican Party, said Griffin’s selection to the House Ways and Means Committee is “a great honor” for Griffin.
“After much prayer and consideration with his family, I know he has made the right decision to remain in the House and not run for governor or U.S. Senate,” he said. “I knew that this was a consideration, so I am not surprised.”
If Griffin had been the Republican nominee, he would have defeated Pryor, Webb added.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 12/01/2012