WASHINGTON — Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi terrified the oil industry late last year when she outlined her priorities for the new Democratic majorities in Congress. Within the first 100 hours, she promised, they would "roll back the multibillion-dollar subsidies for Big Oil."
Last week, however, when Pelosi (D-San Francisco) won House approval of the much-touted bill socking it to the oil companies, it turned out to be considerably less drastic than many in the industry originally feared. Out of an estimated $32 billion in subsidies and tax breaks that the oil companies are scheduled to receive over the next five years, the final House bill cut $5.5 billion.
It's not just oil: From one end of the House Democrats' "first 100 hours" agenda to the other, businesspeople and their lobbyists have found success amid the fear in dealing with the new Congress.
Surprising as it might seem in view of the Democrats' public rhetoric, business groups are getting their telephone calls returned. And they're getting plenty of face time with the new House and Senate leaders.
Thanks to this access, the oil industry fended off many features it considered most objectionable in the proposed energy bill, and the big pharmaceutical companies had success keeping some provisions out of the new House Medicare drug bill.
And, while the House was passing its minimum-wage bill, small-business lobbyists were working the Senate to win tax breaks for their clients in the Senate's version of the bill.
"There was a lot more anxiety initially because of not knowing what was going to transpire," said Stuart Roy, a member of the prominent Washington lobby shop DCI Group and once an aide to Tom DeLay when DeLay (R-Texas) was House majority leader. Now, Roy said, "the anxiety level is down."
Lobbyists adapt
Democrats are quick to say that even if the high-profile bills contain concessions to business, they still go further than anything passed by the old Republican majorities. Instead of trimming back oil subsidies, for example, the GOP and President Bush expanded tax credits for oil companies, saying they were necessary to encourage domestic production.
Still, as the opening round ended, many business lobbyists expressed relief.
In part, the business community's early influence reflects its status as a constituency Democrats can't afford to ignore. As party candidates prepare for the 2008 election, in which they hope to hold and extend their congressional majorities and also take over the White House, they will need substantial business support in the form of campaign contributions.
