CA: Ways and Means chairman to disclose re-election plans - Bill Thomas, R-Ca.

Republican Rep. Bill Thomas, chairman of the influential House Ways and Means Committee, was set to announce Monday whether he would retire from Congress or seek a 15th term.

Thomas, 64, scheduled a morning news conference in his hometown of Bakersfield, Calif., amid speculation that he would leave the House of Representatives. Because of House Republicans' self-imposed term limits for committee chairmen, the mercurial but brainy former college professor is serving his last year as head of the powerful committee that writes tax laws.

GOP officials are working under the assumption that Thomas will retire, according to a Republican election strategist who spoke on condition of anonymity because no official announcement has been made.

If Thomas seeks re-election and returns to Congress next year it will be in a different - and perhaps less influential - role. Few committee chairmanships offer the scope of Ways and Means, where for the past five years Thomas has taken the lead in shepherding President Bush's tax cuts, his Medicare prescription drug legislation and his attempt to overhaul Social Security.

Thomas has refused to discuss his plans, but several Republicans are jockeying to replace him if he does retire.

California Assembly Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, Thomas' protege and longtime ally, said he will file for the seat if Thomas retires. State Sen. Roy Ashburn has also said he plans to run if Thomas doesn't.

McCarthy is the more moderate of the two, continuing Thomas' practice of promoting relatively moderate Republicans in California races, which has earned him the ire of some conservatives in the state GOP.

Thomas came to Congress in 1979, having taught American government at Bakersfield Community College for 10 years and served four years in the California Assembly.

He moved slowly up the Republican ranks, taking on a few politically thankless tasks and burnishing a reputation as a lawmaker willing to master the complicated issues of Medicare and tax policy.

His depth of knowledge made him indispensable to party leaders, despite complaints that he was difficult to work with and not conservative enough because of some votes for abortion rights and gun control.

Some colleagues believe Thomas rescued Bush's tax cut proposal in 2003 after the Senate refused to go along with its initial cost. Thomas decided to abandon the president's proposal to eliminate taxes on dividends in favor of cutting the tax rate on both dividends and capital gains, which he said would be a better stimulus for the economy and allow the cost to be held down.

At the same time his clashes with other lawmakers, usually Democrats, became famous on Capitol Hill. Three years ago he called out the Capitol police to break up a meeting of Democrats on his committee, then apologized in tears on the House floor.

Thomas' father was a union plumber and his parents didn't graduate from high school. The annual financial disclosure forms lawmakers file each year showed Thomas to be among the most modest-meaned members of Congress. He regularly listed no assets or income beyond his congressional salary, now $165,200.

Thomas announces retirement
http://www.bakersfield.com/619/story/39030.html

Staff and wire reports | Monday, Mar 6 2006 9:51 AM
Last Updated: Monday, Mar 6 2006 10:24 AM

Bill Thomas announced today that he is not running for re-election when his term is up.

Thomas declined to endorse anyone to replace him. He said he would do that once the filing deadline passed on March 10.

"Over the next nine months, I intend to continue to work hard and finish my congressional term with the same vigor as my first," Thomas said in a press release.

"Today I am announcing that I will not seek reelection to the United States Congress," he said.

For the past five years, Thomas has played a key role in shepherding President Bush's tax cuts and writing legislation on Medicare, Social Security and pensions.

His deep knowledge of such complicated issues has made him indispensable to party leaders, despite complaints that he was difficult to work with and not conservative enough because of some votes for abortion rights and gun control.

Some colleagues believe Thomas rescued President Bush's tax cut proposal in 2003 after the Senate refused to go along with its initial cost. He was instrumental in securing congressional passage of Bush's Medicare prescription drug bill and of "fast track" trade promotion authority. That authority gives the administration the power to negotiate new international trade pacts that Congress must approve or reject but cannot change.

But even Thomas' attention could not keep alive Bush's bid to overhaul Social Security.

At the same time, his clashes with other lawmakers, usually Democrats, became famous on Capitol Hill. He called out the Capitol police three years ago to break up a meeting of Democrats on his committee, then expressed regret in tears on the House floor.

In the tussle over the trade bill, he labeled as "dumb and outlandish" questions from Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla. He had to apologize to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., after accusing her of lacking guts on the medical malpractice issue and wrongly attributing her position to the fact that the senator was facing reelection, which she was not.

During his retirement announcement Monday, he displayed traces of the fire that made him so revered - and often feared - on Capitol Hill.

"I haven't finished my work and I have nine months to go. I'm not walking away into the sunset; I'm going to work," he said. "Just because I won't be in office doesn't mean I won't have any influence."

Thomas said he wants to tackle "outdated" entitlement programs and the nation's "flawed income tax structure."

Thomas came to Congress in 1979, after teaching American government at Bakersfield Community College for 10 years and serving four years in the California Assembly.

His father was a union plumber, and neither of his parents graduated from high school. The annual financial disclosure forms lawmakers file each year showed Thomas to be among the most modest-meaned members of Congress. He regularly listed no assets or income beyond his congressional salary, now $165,200.

Thomas became the first Californian to serve as House Ways and Means chairman when he was named to the committee in 2001.

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