San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Democrats’ push to revive earmarks divides GOP
Can lawmakers bring home the bacon without it being pork?
It’s a question that’s vexing Republicans as they consider whether to join a Democratic push to revive earmarks, the muchmaligned practice where lawmakers direct federal spending to a specific project or institution back home. Examples include a new bridge, community library or university research program.
Earmarking was linked to corruption in the 2000s, leading to an outcry and their banishment in both the House and Senate. But many in Congress say the ban has gone too far, ceding the “power of the purse” to party leaders and the executive branch and giving lawmakers less incentive to work with members of the other party on major legislation.
Democratic appropriators in the House see a solution and are proposing a revamped process allowing lawmakers to submit public requests for “community project funding” in federal spending bills. To guard against graft, the process includes safeguards to prevent conflicts of interest. Whether earmarking becomes bipartisan could have enormous implications not only for the allocation of spending across the country, but for President Biden, who is gearing up for a massive infrastructure push that he hopes will attract significant Republican support.
With earmarking in place, bipartisanship could prove easier to achieve, as lawmakers could have reason to support bills they would otherwise oppose.
“This is a matter of allowing members to serve their own constituents,” said Rep. Tom Cole, ROkla. “Somebody is going to be making these decisions — and I don’t want to bash federal bureaucrats — but somebody who has never been to my district probably doesn’t know the needs as well as I do.”
With Congress having allocated nearly $6 trillion responding to the COVID19 pandemic, some conservatives are aghast at the prospect of Republicans participating in a Democratic spending spree. They say their party should resist earmarking, not revive it.
“This is not the time to fall into the swamp, or into the dark hole of earmarks,“said Rep. Ted Budd, RN.C.
For now, the debate over earmarks is taking place mostly behind the scenes, with House Republican leadership holding a listening session on the issue Monday night.
Republican members in both chambers of Congress have sponsored legislation to prohibit earmarks. Eleven Republicans have added their name to a bill sponsored by Sen. Steve Daines, RMont., and 10 Republicans have signed onto a House version from Rep. Ralph Norman, RS.C.
The Senate appears less further along in its earmark planning, but Sen. Patrick Leahy, DVt., said Wednesday he expects to allow lawmakers to request what he called “designated spending.”
“I’m perfectly willing to divide it equally between Republicans and Democrats. And so it will be up to them if they want it. If they don’t, we’ll just have it on the Democratic side,” Leahy said.