Key Fresno Congressman Gets Snubbed, Not Wooed : The vote of Rep. Lehman, a Democrat in a GOP district, could be crucial for Clinton health care reform. But he’s being ignored.

WASHINGTON —  To put it mildly, the Clinton Administration has not been particularly solicitous of Rep. Richard H. Lehman, the Fresno area Democrat who is struggling to hold his congressional seat in a largely Republican district.

When he asked for a Job Corps center, for instance, the Labor Department instead gave the facility to the San Francisco Bay Area--which already had two others.

Last week, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt came to the district for a tour of Yosemite Park without even bothering to contact the local congressman. That was his second snub: Last year, Babbitt invited Lehman--one of Congress’ most avid outdoorsmen--on a camping trip, only to withdraw the invitation at the last minute.

Similarly, Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy last year canceled an appearance in the Fresno Valley, which has been in the grip of a drought off and on for seven years. Espy has yet to make a stop in the district, the heart of the world’s richest Farm Belt.

Such slights might not hold any particular significance, if it weren’t for the fact that the North Fork lawmaker holds enormous leverage on the issue that is the heart of President Clinton’s agenda: health care reform.

He is one of three undecided Democrats who have become the focus of intense negotiations on the Energy and Commerce Committee, which is considered the most crucial battleground in the House. And without all three of their votes, Chairman John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) probably cannot produce a sweeping health care bill.

The position of Lehman and the other two Democrats--Reps. Jim Slattery of Kansas and Rick Boucher of Virginia--also demonstrates how closely fought the struggle over health care reform will be. Against a public mood that is increasingly suspicious of the Clinton plan and its various alternatives, House leaders have no choice but to build support the hard way: vote by vote.

The question for some, however, is whether the White House understands that. Aware of how badly he needs Lehman, Dingell has privately urged officials to start paying more attention to the lawmaker’s concerns.

Or at least to cease what appears to be a none-too-subtle campaign of retribution against Lehman for his past votes against the Clinton economic program.

“Lehman’s not obstructionist. He wants to help if he can, which is all the more reason the White House ought to be smart about this,” said one Democrat who has been close to the negotiations.

Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), chairman of Energy and Commerce’s health subcommittee, said: “They haven’t been as attentive to him as they should be. I hope that changes. He is one of the most highly regarded members of the delegation.”

Lehman insisted that past insults and injuries will have no bearing on his ultimate decision on how to vote, which he hopes to make this week. But he noted pointedly: “If they’re going to need you down the line, they ought to pay attention.”

His main concern, he said, is whether the farms and small businesses that make up about 90% of the employers in his district could afford Clinton’s proposal that they pay for their workers’ health coverage. Dingell has a variation exempting the smallest businesses, but that troubles Lehman as well.

With the right incentives, he said, employers might be able to expand coverage without being ordered to by Washington.

“I would be more comfortable giving market forces a better opportunity to work to get broader coverage before we resort to a mandate,” he said. “If that doesn’t work, we could phase it in.”

Lehman also is demanding that the committee consider the effect that the Clinton plan and the Dingell alternative could have on the California Public Employees Retirement System, which provides health coverage to 930,000 government employees and retirees.

Although Clinton has hailed CALPERS’ impressive efforts at holding down health premiums as a model for the nation, his plan would put it out of business. CALPERS officials say the Dingell proposal is not much better, because it would put a $142-million tax on the system.

Both plans, they say, would encourage the shift of health costs from corporate America to state governments. To date, CALPERS lobbyist David Vienna said, Lehman has been the only lawmaker to take those concerns seriously.

Lehman’s situation is further complicated by his district, which is newly redrawn in a fashion inhospitable to any Democrat. In 1992, he won by only 1,030 votes, which was less than a half-percent of the total cast. Clinton ran well behind former President George Bush, attracting only 38% of the vote.

Lehman’s office is being swamped with telephone calls from constituents and interest groups opposing the Clinton plan, but the forces in favor of it are turning up the heat as well. Last week, 17 organizations, led by Consumers Union, began running newspaper ads in his district declaring: “Congressman Lehman: We Just Want the Same Health Care Coverage You Have.”

“They’re wasting their money,” Lehman said, with a note of annoyance. “I’m going to make my decision on what’s in the bill, not what’s in the paid media.”