Congress returning to funding earmarks
Which projects will benefit?
By Associated Press
HUFFMAN, Texas — Don't tell Laura Fields that providing $1.7 million to her flood-prone neighborhood would be wasteful spending. Her home in a Houston-area subdivision was filled with 10 inches of water during Hurricane Harvey.
“The stress of that was just horrific,” Fields said. “You know, to see fish swimming through your house, it's not a good feeling,”
The money sought by her congressman, Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw, to improve drainage and flood prevention in Huffman, Texas, is among thousands of requests that lawmakers have submitted as Congress begins to lift a moratorium on targeted federal spending, often referred to as earmarks.
Earmarking — often called “pork barrel” spending because lawmakers would divert funds to projects in their states — was put on hold a decade ago. Critics thought too many projects went to a handful of powerful lawmakers and fostered a “pay to play” culture in which campaign contributions were often solicited from lobbyists and others.
Now, earmarks are marking a sudden and robust return, revamped and renamed. Lawmakers in both parties have grown frustrated by their inability to shape spending legislation and worry that Congress has ceded too much of the power of the purse to the executive branch.
The experiment could rise or fall on the reaction from voters, particularly in places skeptical of Washington spending. Many Republicans in Congress are refusing to earmark as a matter of principle, characterizing it as graft. Crenshaw said in a statement that he was “proud” to advocate for resources that would help his constituents and that the flood control earmark “will ensure that we don't have to spend even more resources recovering from future flood events.”
“This is not wasteful spending, no, sir, not at all,” Fields said. “These are our homes. This is where we're supposed to feel safe and secure and not have to worry about every time a storm comes through.”
About $14 billion, or 1% of discretionary spending, will be devoted to earmarks in this year's spending bills. The requests that lawmakers made, listed on the House Appropriations Committee website, go beyond the roads, bridges and research grants earmarked in the past.
Republican Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana, for example, wants $775,000 for a mobile medical clinic offering free cancer screenings to rural residents in his district.
Democratic Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania wants $650,000 for mental health professionals to team up with police or to intervene when someone is experiencing a mental health crisis.
It remains to be decided which projects will get funded. Lawmakers have been told they can put in up to 10 requests, but “nobody will be getting 10 requests,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the Democratic chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee.
Supporters of earmarks have set up guardrails to curb the complaints of corruption and waste that flared in the past. Still, more than 100 House Republicans and one Democrat have declined to participate in what is now being called “community project funding.”
Graves said he requested money for the mobile cancer screening unit because some communities in his district experience a higher rate of cancer than the national average.
“You hear over and over again, lack of access to care, difficulty getting appointments, affordability,” Graves said. “This kind of addresses all those historic deficiencies or challenges because it is the provider coming to you — sort of the 2021 version of the doctor with his or her little black bag doing house calls.”
Graves voted against reviving earmarks when members of the House GOP conference changed their rules earlier this year. He said the process could still be improved, but in the end, it's better than letting federal agencies dictate where money goes.
