The Senate Commerce Committee added its approval this morning to the Local Community Radio Act, passing the bill on a unanimous voice vote. The measure, introduced by Senator Maria Cantwell, would allow thousands of new Low Power FM radio stations to launch across the country. With the House companion bill also moving forward definitively, community radio advocates are highly optimistic about success this year. The bill would create space on the airwaves for more small, noncommercial radio stations to begin broadcasting, by relaxing the rules defining how far apart stations must be separated on the dial. In previous years, the expansion of Low Power FM radio has been opposed by existing commercial broadcasters, represented by the National Association of Bradcasters, and sometimes by National Public Radio, citing interference concerns that have since been debunked. This year, NPR is supporting the bill, and so far at least, the NAB has not come out swinging against it.

In Washington State, both Senator Cantwell and Congressman Jay Inslee have provided significant leadership in moving this bill forward. Other Northwest congressional backers of the bill include Republicans Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-3) and Greg Walden (OR-2), Congress' only former broadcaster.

Oregon:

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley earned a ``golden gavel'' Wednesday after reaching 100 hours as the chamber's presiding officer.

And while it may not seem like much to viewers watching the Senate plod along hour after hour, day after day, it's an achievement nonetheless that allows new senators to leave their marks on the stuffy institution.

``It's CSPAN live in concert,'' Merkley said. ``It's been fascinating to have a front row seat to deliberations on significant issues we have faced this year. I can honestly say that I've learned a lot about my colleagues and those issues from my time in the chair."

Idaho:

Freshman Democratic Rep. Walt Minnick is citing former four-term Gov. Cecil Andrus as the sort of Idaho Democrat he'd like to be — one who gets re-elected in a heavily Republican state.

Minnick praised Andrus in Lewiston Saturday at the inaugural Cecil D. Andrus Banquet.

"He could be a rebel, a conservative, a cutting-edge liberal, and he was demanding," said Minnick, whose remarks appeared in Sunday's Lewiston Tribune. "He supported conservation, education, civil liberties, fiscal responsibility and the working man -- and in the process he became a living legend and the most beloved public figure in Idaho."

California:

California Democrat Xavier Becerra has learned a lesson about calling out Nancy Pelosi.

Don’t.

In the run-up to this month’s House vote on health care reform, Becerra suggested to the Congressional Progressive Caucus that party leaders gave up too easily on the favored “robust” public option.

That didn’t sit well with the speaker, and witnesses said she made her displeasure known to Becerra and other top Democrats at a subsequent leadership meeting.

“I understand I have tire tracks on my back because Xavier threw me under the bus,” witnesses quoted Pelosi as saying. The speaker went on to accuse Becerra of trying to improve his “street cred” with progressives by undercutting her.

Arizona:

Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), co-chairman of the 90-plus-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, emerged this year as a key player on health care reform as he helped resuscitate the public insurance option after a brutal August town hall season made many Congressional Democrats skittish about the idea.

An earthy, rumpled former social worker and community activist from Tucson who didn’t get a college degree until he was 39, Grijalva seems better suited to talk to House leaders and less liberal colleagues than some of his fellow Congressional progressives, and he has been able to communicate the caucus’ priorities without alienating House leaders and centrist colleagues.

Nevada:

Take this prediction to the bank: The next session of the Nevada Legislature will not commence as scheduled on Feb. 7, 2011, but sometime next year, perhaps as early as January.

The only questions are just what will be on the agenda, how much can be worked out beforehand and what decibel level the legislative whining will reach. What is not in question is that there will be a spectacular lack of policy purity on display as a governor who doesn’t like federal money for education will be arguing for federal money for education and Democratic legislative leaders will be meekly standing by and allowing cuts they abhor to be enacted while mouthing fiscal conservative shibboleths they hardly believe. It will be almost as grotesque as a full-length legislative session.

What's going on in your state?