A Little More Congressional Seniority = A Little More Office Space

Thu, November 20, 2008 - 3:01 PM

What a difference two years can make!

At this time in November 2006, GOP Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Palm Harbor—as a newly sworn-in freshman lawmaker in the minority party—would soon learn where his Capitol Hill office would be located.

What he got, as a result of a lottery of left-over offices available to first-year Republicans, was a cramped sixth-floor suite at the Longworth Office Building.

For the next two years, Bilirakis and his staff would work from that office located in a little-used hallway, shared by a minor subcommittee on energy and minerals, and several storage rooms.

But heading now into his second term, things are already looking up, er, down for Bilirakis.

Downstairs that is. And that’s a good thing.

Bilirakis is now moving to a larger, first-floor corner office – Rm. 1124 – on at the Longworth Office Building, previously occupied by Henry Brown of South Carolina, who also is relocating.

Among other benefits, the new digs are much easier to locate, and more convenient to the underground subway that shuttles lawmakers and others to and from the Capitol building.

Now, perhaps, Bilirakis will be able to look on with a smile Friday as the incoming freshman House members hold their office-space lottery.

-- Billy House, Media General News Service