Sherrod Brown gets spot on Senate spending committee

Ohio just gained more clout on a key congressional panel in charge of spending taxpayer money. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, was picked today for a seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Brown joins Ohio's other senator, Republican George Voinovich, on the committee. Voinovich will retire at the end of the year, and the November elections could shake up the committee's makeup in 2011, since the majority party (now Democrats) gets more seats on Appropriations. But this gives Ohio more firepower for now, and puts Brown in a good position if Democrats maintain Senate control.

"This is about Ohio getting its fair share of federal resources that promote economic development," Brown said in a statement. He said that Ohio has been a "donor" state for too long, sending out more tax money out than it gets back.

It's too late this year for Brown to have a say on about half the spending bills that normally go through the committee. But he's arriving on time to deal with spending on financial services, defense, labor, health and human services, education, foreign affairs, national parks and lands, and the environment, according to Brown spokeswoman Meghan Dubyak.

The Democratic vacancy on the committee was caused by Sen. Robert Byrd's death. The new assignment means that Brown must resign from another committee, and that will be the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. But he'll continue on committees with oversight of banking, agriculture and veterans affairs matters.

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