How your U.S. lawmaker voted

By Thomas Voting Reports

Here's how the state's members of Congress voted in the week ending Friday.

HOUSE

Student-loan interest cuts: By a vote of 356-71, the House on Wednesday passed a bill (HR 5) to lower interest rates by half over five years in the Stafford student-loan program for undergraduates. The bill, which awaits Senate action, would reduce borrowing costs for need-based loans from the present 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent.

Voting yes: Jay Inslee, D-1; Rick Larsen, D-2; Brian Baird, D-3; Doc Hastings, R-4; Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-5; Norm Dicks, D-6; Jim McDermott, D-7; Dave Reichert, R-8; Adam Smith, D-9.

GOP income test: By a vote of 186-241, the House on Wednesday rejected a Republican plan to add means testing to HR 5 (above). The GOP motion sought to deny the bill's lowered interest rates to borrowers in any year that they earn more than $65,000.

Voting yes: Hastings, McMorris Rodgers.

Voting no: Inslee, Larsen, Baird, Dicks, McDermott, Reichert, Smith.

Oil-company taxation: By a vote of 264-163, the House on Thursday agreed to repeal tax breaks designed to spur extraction of fossil fuels and use the savings of $14 billion over 10 years to open a Strategic Renewable Energy Reserve for developing renewable fuels and energy efficiencies.

Voting yes: Inslee, Larsen, Baird, Dicks, McDermott, Reichert, Smith.

Voting no: Hastings, McMorris Rodgers.

House pages: By a vote of 416-0, the House on Friday passed a bill (HR 475) expanding the House of Representatives Page Board to include equal numbers of Democratic and Republican members (two of each), one member representing parents and one member representing former pages.

Not voting: Smith.

SENATE

Ethics, lobbyist rules: By a vote of 96-2, the Senate on Thursday passed a bill (S 1) to tighten congressional ethics rules and increase regulation of lobbyists.

Voting yes: Maria Cantwell, D; Patty Murray, D.

Earmarks disclosure: By a vote of 98-0, the Senate on Thursday approved an amendment to S 1 (above) requiring public disclosure of the hundreds or thousands of earmarks that lawmakers sponsor each year to benefit local projects or political friends.

Political-convention lobbying: By a vote of 89-5, the Senate on Wednesday outlawed the practice of lobbyists and their employers throwing lavish parties for members of Congress at the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions.

Voting yes: Cantwell, Murray.

Office of public integrity: By a vote of 27-71, the Senate on Thursday rejected an amendment to an ethics and lobbying bill (S 1) establishing a Office of Public Integrity to investigate complaints of misconduct by senators and their staffs.

Voting yes: Cantwell.

Voting no: Murray.

"Astroturf" lobbying: By a vote of 55-43, the Senate on Thursday stripped S 1 (above) of a provision to begin federal regulation with criminal penalties of so-called "Astroturf" lobbying. The term refers to well-funded influence campaigns that operate from within a member's constituency to give the appearance they are citizen-generated grass-roots efforts.