U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., on Monday announced a return to earmarking — the practice of allowing individual members of Congress to award funds to home-state projects through the appropriations process.
Leahy, who chairs the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, said the move would allow lawmakers to more efficiently direct some of the $1.4 trillion in discretionary spending Congress allocates each year to urgently needed projects in their districts.
It could also result in a flood of federal funding for Vermont, given Leahy’s role atop the appropriations panel.
In remarks prepared for delivery on the Senate floor, the senior senator said that since earmarks were banned a decade ago, he has had to fight for Vermont projects “with my hands tied behind my back.”
“Every member of this chamber has their hands tied because we ceded the power of the purse to unelected bureaucrats here in Washington when we instituted a ban on congressionally directed spending,” said Leahy, who is also the president pro tempore of the Senate. “As a result, instead of being able to direct even a fraction of the tax dollars we collect from our hardworking constituents back into their communities, we turned these decisions over to the executive branch.”
Leahy’s announcement follows a decision by Democratic leaders of the U.S. House earlier this year to restore earmarks in that chamber.
Earmarks were long considered among the greatest perks of serving in Congress — particularly for senior members and those who serve on House and Senate appropriations committees. They have funded new libraries, roads, parks and other community projects around the country.
But the practice was banned in 2011 by then-House Speaker John Boehner after Republicans took control of the chamber. Critics argued that the system led to waste and corruption. Scandals occasionally dogged the practice, such as when $223 million in federal funds were earmarked for a “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska in 2005.
Leahy’s announcement Monday came with several guardrails to the earmarking process that already existed before the 2011 ban. They include provisions that senators may not request funding for projects in which they or an immediate family member have a financial interest, spending items must be introduced in writing and the appropriations committee must make each request publicly available online, among others.
Leahy’s plan also included new guardrails that weren’t in place a decade ago, including a 1% cap on discretionary spending directed to earmarks, a ban on for-profit entities receiving earmarks, and a requirement that lawmakers post requests online and audits on some spending directives.
Chris Saunders, a field representative in Leahy’s office, said Monday that the senator hopes to receive proposals for earmarks from Vermont community organizations in the weeks ahead.
Along with billions of federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act and President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan, earmarked funds hold the potential to “build back stronger and advance the economy of the state” in the pandemic’s coming months, Saunders said at a virtual forum hosted by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. Leahy also attended the event.
In his prepared remarks for the Senate floor, Leahy complained that the executive branch officials now charged with federal spending decisions lacked the firsthand knowledge of spending needs that members of Congress have.
“To them, a new community center is nothing more than a line item on a spreadsheet,” he said. “I have a deep understanding of Vermont’s communities, Vermonters and their needs.”
