On October 22, Niels Lesniewski reported in Roll Call that 10 senators from both parties announced in a letter to the House and Senate leadership that they wanted to strengthen the existing ban on
earmarks and make it impossible for anyone to "bring back
earmarks" as President Donald Trump and others have suggested.
Earmarks are funds provided by the Congress for projects or programs where the congressional direction (in bill or report language) circumvents the merit-based or competitive allocation process, or specifies the location or recipient, or otherwise curtails the ability of the administration to control critical aspects of the funds allocation process.
This is the seamy side of
earmarks, and it's the reason they've been a longtime target of good-government groups, whose opposition grew stronger as the number of
earmarks in the federal budget exploded.
This action builds on a similar one in August 2012, when USDOT made more than $470 million in unspent
earmarks immediately available to States for projects that created jobs and helped improve transportation across the country.
This is the result of the policies against "
earmarks" that were adopted by congressional Republicans after the 2010 election.
One thing that used to mitigate that heartbreak, though, was the existence of
earmarks: legislative provisions that directed approved funds to be spent on specific projects.
It was an omnibus bill, and it was loaded with some 8,000
earmarks, which is perhaps why it passed.
Forby pulled the money from a $5 million fund that legislators can use for "legislative member initiatives,"
earmarks used to fund local projects.
Cheese factories on the moon; why
earmarks are good for American democracy.
Tea party red-hots want to eradicate congressional
earmarks. Their Republican allies are tagging along on the crusade - somewhat reluctantly.
The same day tic signed into law the omnibus spending bill containing $7.7 billion in
earmarked projects, President Barack Obama favorably cited the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as an example of legislation devoid of any congressional
earmarks.
The multiplatform series, as well as Heath's recent articles on hidden
earmarks in 2008, can be found at www.seattletimes.com/favorfactory.
