Recovering from stroke, Johnson pushes earmarks

When news of Sen. Tim Johnson’s (D-S.D.) brain hemorrhage first broke in December 2006, Kevin Kephart was immediately concerned for the lawmaker’s well-being. But the vice president of research at South Dakota State University (SDSU) had other worries as well.

Kephart helps lead the Sun Grant Initiative, which supports research into renewable biomass technology at several universities around the country. Johnson has been a champion of the program by earmarking funds for it and for SDSU. From 2002 to 2006, Johnson secured $3.1 million for the program.

“Worry No. 1 was about Sen. Johnson’s health. But there were concerns about the funding, yes,” said Kephart.

Within days, however, Johnson aides had reached out to Kephart to tell him not to fret over future funding. In fact, Kephart’s program has a $3.5 million earmark in the Senate’s Energy and Water appropriations bill.

Kephart’s story is not uncommon. Johnson, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has had great success this year with earmarked projects despite being absent from the Senate for the first eight months of the year as he worked to recover from his stroke.

The South Dakota Democrat has sponsored or co-sponsored more than $491 million worth of earmark requests, according to data compiled by Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog group. More than $113 million of that money is slated for South Dakota.

Johnson returned to the Senate in September. On Monday, he was working in his Washington office preparing for consideration of the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill. That bill included $4.15 million for South Dakota projects, according to his website.

Considering his long absence, several top appropriations lobbyists expressed surprise at Johnson’s haul in earmarked projects. Many of the Senate appropriations bills passed committee votes before Johnson’s return.

Lobbyists and project managers who sought federal money credited Johnson’s staff for reacting quickly to his illness and making sure his office’s priorities were not overlooked.

“South Dakota is a small state, and we know our delegation on a first-name basis,” said Kephart. “We have a very good line of communication.”

“Did the staff go into overdrive? Yes, I would not blink at that at all,” said Julianne Fisher, Johnson’s spokeswoman.

She also noted Johnson’s seniority as chairman of the Military Construction and Veteran Affairs Appropriations subcommittee and the fact that many of Johnson’s projects were left over from the ban on earmarks Democratic leaders imposed in fiscal 2007 spending bills.

And while Johnson did not attend committee markups or take to the Senate floor during his convalescence, Fisher said he was working, writing letters to lawmakers and administration officials, by March after he was rushed to the hospital last December.  

On earmarks, Fisher said Johnson wrote letters to every chairman of an Appropriations subcommittee to clarify what he wanted.

“The staff was doing a lot of work behind the scenes, but we were waiting for the captain to get back,” Fisher said.

Other senators from nearby delegations helped out. Fisher described a back-and-forth between Johnson and Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) that led to $28 million being set aside in the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations bill for the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System, a project that will provide freshwater for communities in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota.

“I think the ones he was most concerned about were the water projects. We’re having not only a quantity but a quality problem there as well in South Dakota,” said former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), now an adviser at Alston & Bird.

A good friend of Johnson’s, Daschle visited the senator throughout his hospital stay. The former Senate leader took note of his friend’s determination early on in his recovery.

“He really deserves a lot of credit for being as engaged as he was,” said Daschle.

Shenan Atcitty, a partner at Holland & Knight, lobbies for the Rosebud Sioux tribe in South Dakota. In touch with Johnson’s office, she and others at her firm advocated for several projects on behalf of the tribe.

“From our stance, Sen. Johnson never really left,” said Shenan Atcitty, a partner at Holland & Knight. “We had pretty early confirmation that he was working from home.”

She said Johnson signed off on several requests for the Rosebud Sioux as he worked to recover.

“In bringing jobs to South Dakota, this fits in with his highest priorities,” Atcitty said.

“Nothing is guaranteed year to year. It’s always a challenge,” said Atcitty.

Appropriations is not the only area where the senator has remained active. Johnson has sponsored eight pieces of legislation so far this year and has more than $1.7 million in cash on hand for his 2008 reelection bid, according to
CQMoneyLine.com.