While conservatives claim mixed results on their 2006 action list, moderate members of the House Republican Conference have seen their sway grow significantly in recent months, including winning passage of several of their key proposals last week as lawmakers scrambled to leave town for the August recess.

"The moderates’ moment has been extended, our influence has been expanded," asserted Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (N.Y.), speaking Thursday at an event hosted by the centrist Republican Main Street Partnership.

While moderate Republicans said it is difficult to determine what measure should top the list of accomplishments in this election year — there is no true litmus test for the RMSP, which includes four dozen or so House lawmakers plus Senators and governors — many cited the passage of legislation to expand embryonic stem-cell research, as well as concessions from leadership on the fiscal 2007 budget blueprint.

In addition, House lawmakers approved measures late last week to increase the minimum-wage rate and to reduce the estate tax, as well as a measure to promote the use of information technology in health care, such as the creation of standards for medical data storage.

"We’re learning how to stick together more effectively than in the past," Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.) said Thursday, shortly before the House approved her proposal on health care records."As other groups in the caucus have gotten more solidified it’s been necessary for us to be more solidified," she said.

But Johnson paused to note that while moderate lawmakers may force their party’s hand on some issues, those Members generally work to support the GOP’s agenda in the House.

"We’ve only done it on very significant things where we had strong differences of principal," she said. The Connecticut lawmaker pointed to her work last year to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from drilling, as well as Rep. Mike Castle’s (R-Del.) more recent efforts to push stem-cell research legislation through the House.

But as GOP moderates have worked to hold together a united front, House Democrats have followed a similar strategy — a plan the centrist lawmakers assert has benefited them in recent months.

Without the possibility of picking off moderate Democratic votes on important bills, the GOP centrists say, Republican leaders must pay attention to their concerns.

"It’s a knock-down, drag-out battle, and partisanship has never been more evident than it is now," Boehlert said, later adding: "That has empowered the moderates because the leadership recognizes it has to get the majority from within the majority.

"In particular, Boehlert cited the fiscal 2007 budget blueprint, in which moderates won an accord from leadership for an additional $7.2 billion to fund education- and health-related programs.

The agreement, reached after weeks of extensive negotiations, provided a portion of the funds through the Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill, as well as an amendment to the budget measure calling for the full increase, to be funded via reductions from other federal programs. "The moderates’ strength has been the Democrats voting solidly [together]," said Castle, who led negotiations with House leaders on the budget. "They have to come deal with us."

"We wouldn’t have had [the budget] without Democrats," he added.

In addition to the inadvertent boost from partisanship in the chamber, several GOP moderates also credit House Majority Leader John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) efforts to confer with centrist lawmakers on contentious issues, a strategy often at odds with his predecessor in the post, ex-Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas).

"The change that I’ve seen is with Majority Leader Boehner is there’s a willingness to listen to everybody," said Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio). "It makes a significant difference when you at least feel listened to.

"LaTourette listed a slew of accomplishments claimed by moderate Members in recent months — ranging from progress on increasing the minimum wage to the reinstatement of Davis-Bacon wage rules late last year after President Bush suspended those regulations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

"Those are great victories that would not have happened last year," LaTourette said.

Castle echoed that sentiment.

"Boehner is no moderate but he does listen," Castle said, adding that those conversations have helped the GOP’s factions to achieve unity on issues. "You feel you’re being heard out and it dampens the rhetoric and the opposition.

"While Bush issued his first-ever veto in July to cancel the embryonic stem-cell research legislation championed by Castle, the Delaware lawmaker nonetheless called the effort "a tremendous victory.

"Castle succeeded in pushing the measure through the House in May, repeating a vote from the first session of the 109th Congress, before Senate lawmakers approved the bill in July.

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) suggested that those successes are derived, at least in part, from moderate lawmakers taking on a more proactive, rather than a reactive, stance.

"We unveiled a positive agenda," Kirk said, referring to the "Suburban Agenda" produced in May by a coalition that included both moderate and conservative lawmakers. "We switched from being a whiners caucus.

"Much of the plan is echoed by the Republican Main Street Partnership in its "Promise for America" strategy unveiled Thursday, such as a proposal, already signed into law, to limit the ability of minors to access Internet pornography, as well as a measure intended to strengthen background checks for teachers.

And moderates touted the progress of their "American Competitiveness Initiative" — also reflected in their Promise for America agenda — which aims to improve math and science education, while also promoting research and development.

"We’re on our way," said Boehlert, noting that the proposal gained support from Bush in his most recent State of the Union address.

Even with that litany of achievements, however, members of the moderate faction acknowledged there are limitations.

"We have no illusions of setting the agenda or having our people in leadership positions," Castle said.

And should Republican lawmakers face defeat in the November elections, handing the House majority back to Democrats for the first time in more than a decade, Castle and other moderates acknowledge that their increasing sway in the conference quickly could ebb.

"If we lose seats ... If you lose control of Congress, moderate Republicans will have a lot less influence," Castle said.