Dean Heller named to Ways and Means post

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Dean Heller on Wednesday was named to the House Ways and Means Committee for the new Congress, landing a seat on the powerful panel that forms taxes, trade and Social Security legislation.

The appointment will give the Nevada Republican an early chance to influence the multi-billion dollar economic stimulus bill. Ways and Means is expected next week or the following week to start drafting tax cuts that President-elect Obama has proposed in his rescue plan.

Heller was among six new Republican members named to the committee, whose GOP membership was decimated last year through retirements and election defeats. The committee makeup for the new Congress will be 15 Republicans and 26 Democrats.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., also sits on Ways and Means. Heller effectively inherits the Republican seat that was held by Jon Porter of Nevada, who was defeated in November.

Heller, who is starting his second term, conducted his sales pitch largely behind the scenes. He quietly sounded out Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio as to his chances as a junior lawmaker. He pointed to a shortage of members from the Mountain West and his experience as a former Nevada assemblyman and deputy state treasurer.

Heller said he was selected because Republican leaders "were looking for a principled policy person who is willing to work hard." He said he will favor "pro-growth" bills as a way to attack the economic crisis.

Ways and Means is considered one of the most coveted assignments in Congress, whose members have influence over whose taxes get cut and whose taxes get raised.

Heller has changed committees several times in his short House tour. To join Ways and Means he was required to drop off the Financial Services Committee where he took part in hearings last fall on the $700 billion financial bailout bill, and eventually voted against it. Heller also has served on the Natural Resources Committee, the Education and Labor Committee and the Small Business Committee.