By Carl Weiser
Enquirer Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., announced Wednesday he has won a seat on the Senate Finance Committee, the panel that oversees tax laws, trade, Social Security and Medicare.

Bunning

"With this committee assignment, I'm going to be able to work on legislation that affects every single Kentuckian on a daily basis," said Mr. Bunning, of Southgate, a conservative who supports tax cuts and expanding trade agreements.

The appointment puts Mr. Bunning, who is up for re-election in 2004, in the middle of what are likely to be several major issues in 2003: a new round of tax cuts, a prescription drug benefit for seniors on Medicare and welfare reform.

Mr. Bunning, 71, is the first Kentuckian to serve on the powerful committee in 35 years, since Sen. Thruston Morton.

"It is one of the more important Senate committees," said Dennis O'Keefe, a political science professor at Northern Kentucky University. "It will help him raise money for his campaign."

Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who serves on the House Ways and Means Committee - the House counterpart to the Finance Committee - said Mr. Bunning's appointment was "great news for the Tristate area."

"I worked with Jim Bunning on the House Ways and Means Committee and know firsthand that he is a tireless advocate for tax relief and tax reform," he said. "The tax code affects everything from the economy to the family checkbook, and it's important to have representatives and senators from our area serving on committees that address these pocketbook concerns."

The appointment also means Kentucky is one of the handful of states with a senator on the committee that controls money coming into the federal government - the Finance Committee - and on the panel that controls the money going out: the Appropriations Committee, on which Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Louisville, serves.

"Between myself ... and Senator McConnell we will have a say in how practically every single federal dollar is spent," Mr. Bunning said in a statement. "As a team, we're going to make sure Kentucky always has a seat at the table."

E-mail cweiser@gns.gannett.com