The Congressional Earmarking System: Resources for Nonprofit Groups

Center for Public Integrity, a public-policy research organization, maintains a “LobbyWatch” database compiled from publicly available lobbying disclosure forms. Users can search for information on nonprofit organizations, the amount they spent on lobbyists from 1998 to 2004, and the issues lobbyists pursued on their behalf, including earmarks, which are in the database’s “Federal Budget & Appropriations” category. The center also published a report in June on questionable efforts by nonprofit organizations to influence members of Congress.

Citizens Against Government Waste, a nonprofit watchdog group that seeks to eliminate pork-barrel spending in the federal government, publishes several reports critical of earmarks, including its annual “Congressional Pig Book,” which contains detailed listings of earmarks in the federal budget.

The Government Accounting Office published a report showing how Congress ignored the requirements of a $750-million competitive grants program in the Department of Transportation that was aimed at helping welfare recipients get to and from their jobs. Instead, Congress earmarked funds in the Job Access and Reverse Commute program

Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, post reports and articles that criticize pork-barrel spending and the growth of earmarks. Among them: “Is Pork Barrel Spending Ready to Explode?,” a look at how lobbying firms seek to win new clients by promoting their ability to win earmarks

“Securing a Line-Item Earmark: A Roller Coaster Ride Worth Taking,” by Mark McIntyre, a Washington lobbyist at the Russ Reid Company, a fund-raising consulting and lobbying firm, shows nonprofit groups how to persuade lawmakers to give a charity an earmark.