Earmark spending could aid rural sites
Jessie Powers spends a lot of time looking for money. Between searching for federal grant opportunities and organizing local match campaigns, the executive director of the Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia knows how much every dollar counts.
It’s why congressional Democrats’ decision to resurrect earmark spending, a provision in the congressional appropriations bill that allows members to direct funds to their districts, holds so much potential for the Athens County council of governments.
“It’s not another handout,” Powers said. “This is the kind of an opportunity to reevaluate what is considered economic opportunity in a rural setting.”
ORCA is in the process of pitching their congressman, Rep. Steve Stivers, a Republican from Hilliard, to use his earmark allocation to fund part of the $2.5 million remaining dollars needed to complete the Baileys Trail system, which will eventually cover 88 miles of trails for cyclists, hikers and nature enthusiasts.
Powers sees recreational tourism as the kind of infrastructure project that will economically rejuvenate southeast Ohio. But earmarks have been abused by members of Congress in the past, and House Republicans banned the practice entirely in 2011 (with Democrats in the Senate following suit).
However, 10 years later, rebranded as “community project funding,” congressional earmark spending has the potential to infuse dollars into Ohio’s rural communities, which struggle to compete for traditional federal funding opportunities compared to the state’s cities and suburbs.
What’s in an earmark?
Earmarks offer congressional representatives the chance to allocate money to their districts while avoiding bureaucratic red tape, but the hassle-free funding has proven problematic in the past.
Often referred to as “pork-barrel spending,” after members of Congress funded questionable projects for political gain throughout the 1990s into early 2000s, the newly improved earmark spending process comes with increased restrictions set by House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rep. Rosa Delauro, a Democrat from Connecticut.
Specifically, only 1% of the 2022 discretionary spending budget (which President Joe Biden will introduce this month) will be earmarked. Members will be capped at 10 requests per year, which will be audited and cannot be directed to for-profit institutions. And any project proposals must have community-led support, according to a statement from Delauro.
Rick Hindman, an advocate and assistant executive director for Buckeye Hills Regional Council, a southeastern Ohio coalition of local governments serving eight counties, is slightly concerned about the number of earmarks, before the 2011 ban, that remain unspent across the country.
As of October 2019, about 3,600 earmarks, worth $2.4 billion have just been lying there, he said.
But, he added, the new guidelines create a more transparent process that will require infrastructure proposals to tie in matching dollars.
“One of main reasons that I see for supporting it is that there are guidelines being put in place to ensure projects have backing from local and state governments,” Hindman said, “and that there are sufficient sources of other funding to finish the project.”
Buckeye Hills has identified $100 million in infrastructure investments in its eight-county territory that are often “hard to fund” within existing state and
federal programs, but could move forward if granted an earmark allocation by Rep. Bill Johnson, a Marietta Republican whose sprawling district covers a swath of eastern and southeastern Ohio from Columbiana to Lawrence counties.
“I think the main purpose for us here is that capacity for our local communities is limited,” Hindman said. “We got all these projects that could move forward if funding was available, and if we bring our communities together to have a voice that can’t be ignored as easily.”
Another positive earmarks offer is the chance to unify the polarized country, he added.
“If it is done openly and transparently, it gives members of Congress the chance to take a bipartisan approach,” Hindman said.
Who’s on board?
Johnson and fellow Reps. Troy Balderson and Tim Ryan have accepted community-driven infrastructure proposals
from their respective districts, which serve various parts of Appalachian Ohio.
Johnson, who ran his 2010 campaign denouncing earmarks, has been open to directing money to infrastructure-related projects in his district through the discretionary funding.
His spokesman, Benjamin Keeler, said all projects will be reviewed and considered if they meet the appropriations committee’s guidelines.
“This rural region of the state has long been neglected by politicians in both Washington and Columbus, and Congressman Johnson will certainly continue to advocate for those he represents,” Keeler said.
Balderson, a Republican whose office is in Zanesville, explained that the new guidelines in place put much-needed limits on spending and hold members of Congress responsible.
“This approach does more than put
lipstick on the proverbial pig,” he said. “Republicans chose to go beyond mere rebranding of the Community Project Funding process. We have proposed an unprecedented level of accountability.”
Ryan, the sole Democrat representing Appalachian constituents in Ohio from his office in the Youngstown area and an earmark proponent, agreed. He said the new regulations in place eliminate room for corruption, but he said discretionary funding was always valuable, and any politicians who abused the system in the past ended up in jail.
“You don’t throw baby out with the bathwater,” he said. “I do think it’s a disservice to the constituents to just kind of willy-nilly say (earmarks) are all bad, and I think it’s an opportunity for a congressman to bring back this money to their district.”
Stivers plans to be conservative with earmarks, said spokeswoman Annmarie Graham. The office is still working through logistics, she said, but encouraged community input. Stivers’ district includes Athens County, where the Baileys Trail network is located.
Without an earmark designation, ORCA will continue struggling to find money for the actual trails, which Powers said has been the hardest part of funding the project. Much like Buckeye Hill’s list of infrastructure initiatives,
the trails don’t perfectly align within existing grant programs.
“The earmarks should be very wellvetted, but if you’ve got a project like ours that has significant community support, this is really just another way for southeast Ohio to be competitive in the state, and across the country,” Powers said.
What does this funding mean for Appalachian Ohio?
A lack of capacity and resources
across the region is what makes the potential that earmark funding could have on infrastructure development in rural areas such a significant investment.
“Our struggle has always been to reach parity with our urban folks,” Rick Hindman said, referring to Buckeye Hills and other advocates that have to compete for state and federal dollars with nonprofit groups and organizations with more manpower.
And it’s why Ryan believes that antiearmark members of Congress who reject the funding are setting their districts up for failure.
“If you want your communities to get in the back of the line, have to hire a grant writer and have to compete with the rest of the country then that’s your prerogative, but I wholly disagree with it,” he said.
Plus, if members decline their opportunity to fund proposals, their allocations will be recycled back into the budget – eliminating the opportunity for local communities to have a direct impact on how federal dollars are spent, Ryan added.
From the Republican perspective, Balderson said he recognizes there is not a universal agreement on the initiative, but that congressional representatives understand the unique needs of their districts far better than D.C. bureaucrats.
“With control of the House, Senate and executive branch, Democrats can keep using community-project funding for their own districts with or without our support,” he said. “This provides an opportunity to ensure the overwhelming majority of Ohio’s communities are not left behind, especially rural communities.”
Céilí Doyle is a Report for America corps member and covers rural issues in Ohio for The Dispatch. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation at https://bit.ly/3fnsgaz. cdoyle@dispatch.com @cadoyle_18