WASHINGTON — Only a dozen House members and half as many senators declined to play in Congress’ pork-barrel playground last year by refusing to ask for home-state projects, a Washington-based watchdog group disclosed Wednesday.
Their more than 500 colleagues easily filled the gap, obtaining more than $18 billion worth of these so-called earmarks, according to a database assembled by Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog group that advocates sharply curbing the practice.
A familiar club of old-school lawmakers on the pork-dispensing appropriations committees send home the lion’s share, with the most adroit earmarkers obtaining well more than $100 per resident in projects and grants for their states.
The champion is Republican Ted Stevens, who has represented Alaska in the Senate for 40 years and is a former Appropriations Committee chairman, who obtained most of the $345 million in earmarks his state is getting this year. Alaska’s earmarks in 2008 amount to $506 for every resident of the state.
A close second is Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., whose efforts for his state are legendary. Byrd got $330 million this year for West Virginia, which ranks third in terms of pork dollar per resident at $198.
Hawaii, represented by Democrat Daniel Inouye, another “old bull” appropriator, will get $226 per resident in earmarked dollars.
States with larger populations get far less in earmarked money per capita. Massachusetts, for instance, will get just $34 per resident. Arizona gets the least, at $19 per capita.
Colorado ranks 41st in overall earmarks at $91.8 million, and 49th in earmarks per capita, at $19.89.
Most of the data is gleaned from reports issued by Congress listing the names of lawmakers obtaining earmarks. In many cases, more than one member of a state delegation requested the same earmark. That makes it difficult to measure exactly who the most aggressive earmarkers are, since several lawmakers can claim credit.
In the House, John Murtha, D-Pa., who chairs the appropriations panel that funds the Defense Department, obtained $160 million in solo earmarks, followed by Jerry Lewis of California, top Republican on the full Appropriations Committee, with $110 million in solo earmarks.
“The earmarking process in Congress has become a symbol of a broken Washington,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, one of the few lawmakers who don’t seek them.
New reforms require lawmakers who obtain earmarks to identify themselves and attest that they don’t get any financial reward from them.
aps vary, but the most commonly accepted definition of an earmark is a line-item project not requested by the president but inserted into spending legislation.
