U.S. House Democrats Propose 4,350 Earmarks A Year Costing $13 Billion

The Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives will allow up to $13 billion in earmarks on House appropriations bills, 10 per member, for a total of up to 4,350 earmarks for fiscal year 2022.

House Republicans released a statement arguing that earmarks are a pathway to congressional corruption.

Over the years, other earmarks drew scrutiny and scorn: a $3.4 million earmark for turtle tunnels under a Florida highway, a $50 million earmark for an indoor rain forest in Iowa, $1 million for a Woodstock Museum in New York, $500,000 for a North Carolina teapot museum, and $273,000 to study Goth culture in Missouri, among others.

Rep. DeLauro says the COVID-19 crisis has forced the House to return to funding the much-maligned pork projects, otherwise known as earmarks: "Members want Congress to help their communities, particularly now as the pandemic exposed so many inequalities and needs," she said in a statement released by the House Appropriations Committee.

The House started a moratorium on earmarks in 2011, but now Members are coining a new term to refer to earmark spending, pork projects, and "Member-directed spending."

Setting aside one percent for House appropriation earmarks in fiscal year 2022 would mean earmarks could equal $12.98 billion or more.

One former senate staffer, Mark Strand, recently argued that earmarks "Can lead to healing." Strand's old boss, former Senator Jim Talent, was a proponent and frequent user of earmarks.
 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2021/03/15/us-house-democrats-propose-4350-earmarks-a-year-costing-13-billion/?sh=3441d3221cff