Short Hill workweek still intact

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The same House Democrats who assailed the "Do-Nothing" 109th Congress say they will get more work done than the outgoing Republican majority, but have not announced any changes to the abbreviated legislative workweek.

Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, yesterday announced her party's legislative agenda for its first 100 hours in power, saying Congress will "remain in session for several weeks in January" to consider bills proposing to increase the minimum wage, cut the student-loan interest rate and roll back subsidies for oil companies.

"It is imperative that we waste no time in addressing the pressing needs facing our nation," she said.

The 110th Congress will convene on Thursday, Jan. 4. The scheduling allows the Democrats to potentially work through that weekend and pass their "100 hour" package, and then spend the next full week in Washington.

As Democratic leaders often point out, the Republican Congress met 94 days this year before this month's midterm elections -- a record low.

"It would be difficult to do less work than was done in the last Congress," said Rep.-elect Steve Cohen, Tennessee Democrat. "That would be going into a black hole or negative territory. I don't think Einstein could calculate that."

Beyond the honeymoon phase, leaders have not yet announced their plans for the workweek. They say it will be easy to do more than the Republican majority did since coming to power in 1995.

"I don't know that we will work every week, but we are certainly going to work significantly longer than the Do-Less-Than-Do-Nothing Congress," said incoming House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland.

Mr. Hoyer came up with that nickname as an expansion of President Truman's label of the 80th Congress during his successful 1948 election campaign.

For the last several years, House Republicans have scheduled votes on less-significant bills -- such as renaming post offices or honoring sports teams -- on Monday evenings. The real work on more pressing policy matters occurred Tuesday afternoon through Thursday. By Thursday night, most members were on planes traveling back to their districts.

Democratic Rep. Rick Boucher of Virginia remembers a similar workweek when his party had control in the 1980s.

He praised the Republicans for sticking to a schedule, even though he thinks they got little accomplished. "It helps to plan. I didn't have that assurance when the Democrats were in charge," he said.

Pelosi spokeswoman Jennifer Crider said Democrats are "still working out" the schedule.

When asked if the Democrats would adopt the same workweek as the Republicans, Miss Crider quipped: "You mean a day and a half? No."

But will there be a 2007 St. Patrick's Day break, giving lawmakers a week off in their districts? Mrs. Pelosi derided that vacation earlier this year.

Voters "have to work five days a week," she said at the time. "I do not know why we should not."

Other bills on the House Democrats' 100-hour agenda are lobbying reform, pay-as-you-go budgeting, implementation of the 9/11 commission recommendations, prescription-drug price negotiation and broadening the scope of federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.

Those items all were elements of the Democratic campaign theme, dubbed "Six for '06."

"If we're going to do six for '06 in the first 100 hours, we're going to be working a lot harder than we did this year," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Maryland Democrat.