YOUNGSTOWN Ryan brings good fortunes to Valley

By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- In his first year in Congress, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan has obtained more than eight times the amount of federal money for the 17th District than former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. did during his final full year in office.
The U.S. House approved the 2004 federal omnibus spending package last week, and the Senate is expected to vote on it as early as Jan. 20. The funding bills include $820 billion in federal spending for a variety of projects.
Ryan, a Niles Democrat, was able to get $12,365,000 included in the package for the 17th Congressional District, which includes portions of Mahoning, Trumbull, Portage and Summit counties.
Of that amount, $3.77 million is for projects in the Mahoning Valley portion of the 17th District.
In all, the Valley garnered $4.76 million in the package. U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland of Lisbon, D-6th, who represents Columbiana County and a portion of Mahoning, was able to get $500,000 in funding for improvements to East Liverpool's St. Clair Avenue, and $100,000 for a resource officer at the Leetonia school district. U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette of Madison, R-14th, who represents northern Trumbull County, got $390,000 for the Hopewell Therapeutic Farm Community in Mesopotamia.
Appropriations
The biggest appropriation for the 17th District is $2.5 million for improvements to state Route 46 in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
Other Valley appropriations in the spending package include: $500,000 for the Riverwalk in Warren, $400,000 for St. Elizabeth Health Center, $220,000 for the Niles/Trumbull Transit program, $100,000 for the Warren Urban Minority Alcohol and Drug Abuse Outreach Program and $50,000 for the Ursuline HIV/AIDS Ministry.
Also, Ryan obtained $750,000 for Kent State University's Northeast Ohio Alliance for Biopreparedness, a consortium that includes Youngstown State University and the 910th Airlift Wing in Vienna.
In comparison, Traficant, a Poland Democrat, obtained $1.5 million from the 2002 federal spending package, passed in December 2001; 2001 was Traficant's final full year in Congress and the year he was indicted.
In the 2001 package, approved in December 2000, Traficant obtained $4,763,000 for the district.
"There was a great deal of controversy over carving up the Mahoning Valley" into three separate congressional districts in 2002, said Mary Anne Walsh, Ryan's chief of staff. "In one year, you've got a new member who replaces a very senior member, and the community is faring better."
Representation
Traficant was expelled from Congress in July 2002 and is serving an eight-year federal prison sentence for bribery, racketeering and tax evasion. In 2002, Traficant spent only January on Capitol Hill, and returned once -- for his July expulsion hearing.
John Green, director of the University of Akron's Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, said the reason the 17th District did so much better this year than in the past is representation.
"In order for a district to maximize its spending benefits, it has to have an active legislator," he said. "Traficant's absence certainly made it easy for funds to be directed to other places. ... What we're seeing in this bill is a combination of Traficant being gone, and being replaced by Tim Ryan, who has been there only a short time, but is generally well-liked in the Democratic caucus."
The longer Ryan stays in office, the more money he will bring home, Green said.
"Although $12 million may be a little on the low side [compared to other congressional districts], Tim Ryan hasn't been there for a long time," Green said. "But it's a fairly dramatic change from the recent past."
Benefiting Valley
Paul Sracic, a YSU political science professor, said the Valley will continue to benefit from Ryan.
"It's the advantage of having a loyal Democrat in office," he said. "He's a loyal team player. The party won't try to punish him. That happened with Traficant."
Sracic said there is a problem judging the effectiveness of a congressman simply by the amount of pork he brings back to his district. Members of Congress should be judged on their effectiveness and their ability to deal with important issues.
Traficant's absence had an impact on the district's federal funding in the 2003 spending package.
For that year, the 17th District received $4,225,000 from Congress' annual appropriations package, but only $550,000 went to the Valley portion of the district: $500,000 for YSU, and $50,000 to improve the Walton Street Bridge.
"He put in for a lot of things, but it was at the 11th hour," Walsh said.
Passage of the 2003 appropriations package was delayed until February 2003, a month after Ryan took office. The package is typically approved by Congress in December of the previous year.
skolnick@vindy.com