Congress included more than 100 earmarks in its fiscal year 2015 funding bills, despite having a moratorium on earmarks since fiscal year 2011. The number of earmarks fell in 2015, but the overall cost jumped to $4.2 billion, according to analysis by Citizens Against Government Waste.
The anti-government waste organization released its annual Congressional Pig Book on Wednesday, showing that earmarks are entering a new era in which they are fewer in number, higher in cost and less transparent.
For example, in fiscal year 2010 the National Pre-Disaster Mitigation Fund received 58 earmarks totaling almost $25 million, with the bill detailing which members of Congress had requested earmarks. In fiscal year 2015, the same fund received a single $25 million earmark with no transparency about who requested earmarks to be distributed from the fund, according to the report.
“The earmarks in the appropriations bills enacted since the initiation of the moratorium raise disturbing questions for the future, particularly since representatives and senators from both sides of the aisle continue to clamor for their revival,” the report said. “Should Congress get back on the pork-barrel track, there will be an increased risk of corruption, the potential for an explosion in earmarks, and the enactment of more costly legislation.”
Congress’ definition of an earmark differs from the definition used in the Pig Book. You won’t hear Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, admit to breaking the earmark moratorium, because by Congress’ definition, the moratorium is still in place. But Citizens Against Government Waste say its definition of earmarks is more conservative than the one used in Congress.
Lowlights of the 2015 Congressional Pig Book include:
— $1.1 billion spent on 27 earmarks for the Defense Health Program, a $200 million increase since last year. The excessive level of funding has been criticized in the past by now-former Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and now-former Department of Defense Comptroller Robert Hale.
— $120 million spent to upgrade a tank opposed by Department of Defense officials. The factory that builds the tank is in a town represented by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, but the factory’s suppliers are spread across the country. Defense officials say the tank is susceptible to improvised explosive devices, such as the ones used by Iraqi and Afghani insurgents.
— $86 million for the National Guard Counter-Drug Program, which allows military personnel to aid in domestic drug enforcement operations.
— $21 million for the National Exercise Program. According to the Congressional Pig Book, the program has received $92 million worth of earmarks since 2004.
— $15 million spent on the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, a favorite of Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. The money supports salmon conservation efforts in Alaska, California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. President Obama requested $50 million for the program in fiscal year 2015, so the total $65 million appropriation is called a $15 million earmark by the Congressional Pig Book.
— $4 million spent on an aquatic plant control program. The earmark has received bipartisan support in the past, ranging from Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
According to the report, the $4.2 billion spent on earmarks in fiscal year 2015 is a significant improvement over the record amount spent in fiscal year 2006: $29 billion.
