Lawmakers Earmarked $29-Billion for Pet Projects in 2006, Report Says

By Elizabeth Schwinn

Members of Congress spent a record $29-billion last year on so-called legislative earmarks, singling out a substantial number of charities and other institutions to receive federal funds, according to a study by a government-watchdog group.

Members of Congress included 9,963 earmarks, or “pork-barrel” projects, in 11 spending bills passed last year, according to Citizens Against Government Waste, which has tracked earmarks over the past 16 years. The bills covered spending for fiscal 2006, which will end on September 30.

The watchdog group does not calculate how much of the money went to charities, but a Chronicle analysis of last year’s earmarks found that more than $2-billion was directed to charitable organizations (The Chronicle, July 21, 2005).

Earmarks designate sums of money for specific groups or projects and are inserted by legislators into spending bills without public debate or evaluation. They circumvent the traditional grants process by which many charities apply for federal dollars and have their applications evaluated by experts who determine which projects have the most merit.

The largest charitable recipients of earmarks in 2006, as highlighted by Citizens Against Government Waste, include:

• The MIND Institute, in Albuquerque, which studies brain diseases and mental illness, received $11-million. The institute is housed in a building named for Sen. Pete Domenici, Republican of New Mexico, who heads the Energy and Water spending subcommittee that set aside the money for the project.

• Operation Unite, an anti-drug organization in eastern and southern Kentucky, was awarded $8-million.

• The St. Louis Zoo was given $5-million, for transportation and public-safety improvements.

In many cases, earmarks have reduced the amount of traditional grant money available to nonprofit groups.

Some charities and experts on federal spending criticize earmarks, saying they make it impossible for the federal government to spend its limited dollars on the best programs.

But charities that receive earmarks say that the money goes to worthy causes and often is desperately needed. A growing number of charities are hiring lobbyists and asking members of Congress for federal money.

Some charitable organizations that had won earmarks in the past found themselves shut out of federal spending legislation this year, after House and Senate budget negotiators decided to strip $1-billion in earmarks from the spending bill that covered the departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services.

Among the losers: Communities In Schools, a popular national dropout-prevention program, which had received $3.4-million worth of earmarks through the Education Department last year, but received no education earmarks this year. The group did secure $75,000 in earmarks from the Justice Department through another spending bill.

Some Congressional observers say the amount of money set aside through earmarks could wane in next year’s budget, due to a growing federal debt and recent lobbying scandals.

Bills pending in both the House and Senate would put new restrictions on lobbying and on earmarks.

And a recent tally shows that lawmakers already may be reining themselves in: As of mid-March, House lawmakers had made 43 percent fewer requests for earmarks compared with the same period last year. The study, by the House Appropriations Committee, found that the number of earmarks sought totaled 26,954 by March of last year, compared with just 15,470 this year.

Copies of the “2006 Congressional Pig Book,” which summarizes the Citizens Against Government Waste study, are available online at http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reports_pigbook2006. The site also features a database that allows people to locate specific earmarks by state, bill, or keyword.

Among the other legislative earmarks that went to nonprofit groups:

• $3.5-million to the Educational Advancement Alliance, in Philadelphia, for math and science programs in elementary and secondary schools and college scholarships.

• $2.5-million to the Girl Scouts of the USA.

• $2-million to World Vision, an international relief and development group in Federal Way, Wash.

• $1.9-million to the MountainMade Foundation, in Thomas, W.Va., which promotes the work of West Virginia artists on the Internet.

• $1.2-million to the Excel Institute, in Washington, a nonprofit automotive-training school.

• $950,000 to the Boy Scouts of America, Western Alaska Council, to build a base camp in Talkeetna.

• $500,000 to build a teapot museum in Sparta, N.C.

• $500,000 to the Salvation Army to build a family-services center in Clay County, Mo.

• $400,000 for the Kam Wah Chung & Company Museum, in John Day, Ore.