America's High Plains are losing a 70-year battle to keep people on the land, but the region's clout in Washington is rising, especially in the Senate.

From Medicare to energy policy, the nation's most sparsely populated states are stamping their concerns on top domestic issues. New federal funding formulas in the works for highways and homeland security give a big advantage to rural states. And despite fierce partisan pressures in a closely divided Congress, rural lawmakers routinely work across party lines to make their priorities stick.

To the dismay of hard-line conservatives, rural America is emerging as the main obstacle to the White House reform agenda: If you fix the market, all boats will rise. In the heartland, too many family farms, hospitals and schools are sinking. And their representatives insist that markets alone - whether for soybeans, health care insurance, or school vouchers won't solve the problem. They want government benefits targeted at rural constituencies, and they're getting them.

"The clout of rural America exceeds its geographic representation by orders of magnitude," says Michael Franc, vice president for government relations at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. "There are conservatives who should be with us, but they're not. They don't buy into the free market idea so readily. They just want to be sure that this part of Iowa or Montana gets reimbursement rates worthy of that lawmaker's clout," he adds.

It's not clear whether Prairie lawmakers will ever dominate the institution as their southern counterparts did for much of the last century. But their power draws on some of the same resources: seniority, key committee assignments, a loyal electorate, and strong agreement on what they need from Washington. Southern senators used their years as committee chairmen to load their states with defense plants and military bases - and to quash civil rights bills. The High Plains senators want to stem the heartland's population drain, or at least ease its impact with crop subsidies, water projects, and more generous social security checks and Medicare reimbursements. They want to keep federal dollars flowing. So far, they're doing well.

The key to Plains Power in the Senate is the Finance Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Charles Grassley (R) of Iowa, along with ranking Democrat Max Baucus of Montana. This committee is the gateway for tax cuts and Medicare reform - the top Bush domestic priorities in the 108th Congress - and a strong advocate for the needs of rural constituents.

Earlier this year, the committee added $25 billion for rural health care providers to both tax and Medicare legislation. Although the additional funding was dropped from the tax bill after negotiations with the House, it is far more likely to be included in the Medicare bill because House leaders need the votes of rural Democrats on this bill.

Rural priorities shifted the Senate debate on Medicare reform. President Bush wanted strong incentives for seniors to leave traditional fee-for-service Medicare for private insurers. But Senators Grassley and Baucus said that the plan would not work in underserved, sparsely populated areas, and demanded that the government guarantee prescription drug coverage if the market fails. That blunts the incentive for everyone, advocates say.

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