010212.txt Green says he is 'unlikely' to seek statewide post in 2002 By Melanie Fonder For The News-Chronicle WASHINGTON - Just weeks into the first session of the 107th Congress, sophomore U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Green Bay, was feeling upbeat. After being re-elected overwhelmingly and returning to Washington where his fellow Republicans had control over both chambers of Congress and the presidency for the first time in more than 40 years, he believed there was a wealth of possibilities. He knew he was about to be granted a key position on the subcommittee of his choice and that he would be renamed to two leadership positions he held his first term in office. But on the day Green was hoping for news headlines about his new position, there instead were headlines that he was contemplating a run for Wisconsin attorney general in 2002. "You know, I learned a valuable lesson in this," Green said in an interview from his Green Bay home. "I was probably guilty of plain speaking. It was one of those scenarios where someone asks, 'Would you ever consider this?' and I say, 'Sure,' and from that comment it sort of spiraled out of control." Green had been rumored as a potential governor candidate for some time, but he has publicly said he would not run if Gov. Scott McCallum runs (which he expects to be the case). He has never made a secret of the fact that he would someday like to hold statewide office where he could spend more time closer to his family. As for whether he is actively considering the AG spot, Green said not any more or less than he ever has in the past and that he is more focused on his new assignment in Washington. "It's unlikely that I'm going to seek that," Green said. On Thursday, Green was announced as the vice chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity - a high spot for a sophomore. Green said he lobbied Chairman Mike Oxley, R-Ohio, and the Republican leadership for the position on his record of housing initiatives, both at the state level and in Congress, where he led last year's floor debate on a home ownership initiative of then-Rep. Rick Lazio, R-N.Y. He was also reassigned his leadership positions as an assistant majority whip and class representative to the Republican Policy Committee. As for his legislative plans for the subcommittee, Green said he hopes he can bring a Midwestern mentality to housing issues - one where high-rises or tenements are not the first things that come to mind when people hear "public housing." "I think that the housing and community development subcommittee and the Financial Services Committee in general is going to play a great role in shaping the Republican agenda and shaping public policy," Green said. The committee's profile is also somewhat raised because Rep. Marge Roukema, R-N.J., who was in line to chair the old committee, lost out to Oxley, meaning no Republican woman would chair a major committee. Though Green has not yet met with Roukema on the subcommittee agenda, she issued a letter last week that Green said indicated, "her priorities were very much in tune with mine." BARRETT PROPOSES TAX CUT Rep. Tom Barrett, D-Milwaukee, introduced an across-the-board tax cut bill last week that would be determined based on the amount an individual pays into Social Security, with a $300 maximum credit for singles and $600 for couples. "This will stimulate the economy right now," Barrett said. "Working families who need this money immediately would have it under this plan." Barrett, who is strongly considering a run for governor in 2002, said the bill would reach the people on lower income brackets immediately, unlike the tax relief plan proposed by President George W. Bush. The tax cut, which would be retroactive like Bush's, would cost $40 billion per year and leave enough of the projected surplus to create a prescription drug benefit under Medicare, Barrett said. But Rep. Green, who agrees tax relief needs to stimulate the economy and must be retroactive, said Barrett's proposal does not go nearly far enough. "The good news is that the Democrats are finally admitting that families need tax relief," Green said. "Tom's idea is a good one, but by itself, falls far short." KOHL MEETS WITH VENEMAN In keeping with the new era of bipartisanship, Wisconsin Sen. Herb Kohl, the ranking Democrat on the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, met with Bush's secretary of agriculture on Thursday in his Senate office. Ann Veneman, who confirmed unanimously by the Senate last month, had received light criticism from Midwesterners concerned about her position on the Northeastern Dairy Compact. Kohl, along with other Midwestern senators is a strong opponent of an extension of the compact, which will be decided this year. While Kohl and Veneman discussed her position on the issue, Kohl said she did not commit the administration to a firm position but said that compacts need to be reviewed for policy problems. In a related development, Kohl received an award from the National Association of Farmers Market Nutrition Programs last week for his work on funding nutrition programs for senior citizens, low-income women and children. Melanie Fonder, a former News-Chronicle reporter, is a staff writer for the Hill, a weekly newspaper that covers Capitol Hill. Her column appears here Mondays. Write to her at melfonder@yahoo.com.