WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Mark Udall on Monday wouldn’t agree to extend to the Senate his promise of forgoing requests for special-project funding, or “earmarks,” should he win the seat he’s campaigning for in November.
“This is a one-year moratorium,” Udall spokesman Tara Trujillo said .
A timeout is needed, she said, to review the practice.
“It’s not that earmarks are bad, it’s that the process for securing them is broken,” Trujillo added. “He may go back to securing earmarks if some additional reforms are enacted and if we can make progress on reducing the federal deficit.”
Lawmakers seek earmarks to pay for projects that include road repairs, grants to police departments and funding for homeless shelters. But they also have been criticized as a way to funnel money to pet projects without sufficient public scrutiny.
Democratic leadership is considering a House-wide moratorium on the funding process. Republicans already have asked for a moratorium.
Udall, an Eldorado Springs Democrat, said last week that in spending bills for fiscal 2009 he wouldn’t ask for any earmarks.
A watchdog group that criticizes earmarks welcomed Udall’s pledge. But he needs to continue the policy should he win, said Steve Ellis, vice president of programs at Taxpayers for Common Sense.
“It’s going to be pretty hard from our perspective to get into the Senate and say earmarking is good now,” Ellis said.
If earmarks continue for lawmakers, Udall’s decision is unlikely to have a major impact on how much money Colorado receives through the process.
A major spending bill that passed late last year had $28.4 million in earmarks with Udall’s name, the most of any of Colorado’s House members. But in most cases, more than one member of the congressional delegation requested the same earmark.
Sens. Wayne Allard, a Republican, and Ken Salazar, a Democrat, don’t plan to change their policies, each of their spokesmen said.
Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat, said she’s evaluating her policy while waiting for a Democratic leadership decision.
Reps. Ed Perlmutter, a Golden Democrat; Tom Tancredo, a Littleton Republican; and John Salazar, a Manassa Democrat, said they’d still ask for earmarks.
“Many times urban areas get the lion’s share of dollars,” said John Salazar, who added that earmarks are one of the few ways he has to funnel funds to poorer, rural areas.
Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Colorado Springs Republican, said he would only ask for earmarks connected to national security.
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, a Fort Morgan Republican, made a pledge last October to give up earmarks, said her spokesman, Joe Brettell. Musgrave had $27.7 million in earmarks, but Brettell said those requests were made before her October pledge.
Anne C. Mulkern: 202-662-8907 or amulkern@denverpost.com
