State delegation split over 'no-pork' pledge

"We're going to get less than last year, " said Rep. Jack Kingston, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, which has just begun putting together spending bills for the coming year.

The Savannah Republican said criticism of the congressional practice of seeking local projects and grants has prodded him to trim back his own requests. He's asking for about half of the $100 million he won last year for his district and the state.

At the same time, Georgia's loss will mean other states' gain, Kingston said.

Lawmakers use earmarks to direct funds to projects and programs outside of the usual competitive bid process. Congressional leaders have set aside $18 billion for earmarks, about the same as this year, for fiscal 2009, which begins in October. Under a joint agreement, the Democratic majority takes 60 percent and Republicans 40 percent.

The Georgia delegation, which has long presented a unified front in seeking such federal assistance, is now in disarray over the effort. The five members who have sworn off earmarks say they are protesting bloated federal spending, particularly the practice of senior lawmakers doling out projects and grants to constituents and private companies. The system has caused an "erosion of spending oversight, " said Rep. Tom Price of Roswell.

Joining him on the "no earmarks" wagon are Paul Broun of Athens, Nathan Deal of Gainesville, John Linder of Duluth and Lynn Westmoreland of Grantville. Georgia has by far the most on the list of 39 House members who have taken that position.

That stand has brought praise from some quarters. "We commend any member of the Georgia delegation who has stood up and said 'No earmarking, ' " said Leslie Paige, vice president of the group Citizens Against Government Waste. "They are saying 'yes' to accountability, transparency and a rational budget process."

But Georgia's two Republican senators are expressing some displeasure with the no-earmark stand on the other side of the Hill.

Obtaining funds for the state is a heavy burden "if we're all pulling the oar together, " said Sen. Saxby Chambliss. He said that having some members of the delegation decline to join the rowing "just makes it much harder."

What's more, Chambliss said, "It's not unusual for us to get a phone call from a House member who says, 'I'm not making an earmark request, but I need your help on this.' "

Sen. Johnny Isakson, who has 225 projects on his list of requests, said he has also received calls from "no-earmark" congressmen "to encourage me to emphasize a specific request."

Neither senator would name the lawmakers involved.

Both Isakson and Chambliss voted for a one-year moratorium on earmarks with an aim of reforming the process to make it more open. But when that was defeated, both put in spending requests that far exceed those from last year, when Chambliss sponsored $167 million and Isakson $161 million in earmarks, putting them in the middle of the pack of U.S. senators.

"To recede from that participation runs the risk of a meritorious project in my state going somewhere else, " Isakson said, citing examples such as additional F-22 Air Force planes, which are assembled in Marietta.

Chambliss has posted on his official Web site a wish-list of nearly 250 projects that he would like to see approved by Congress. His single biggest item for Georgia is $3.9 billion for the C-17 Globemaster III, a military cargo plane that is being built, in part, in Macon.

"I'm not embarrassed by any of these requests, " Chambliss said, citing projects he has promoted such as a museum honoring abolitionist leader Harriet Tubman and an aviation museum at Robins Air Force Base. Those projects have educational value, he said, unlike the much criticized earmark that was proposed for a museum memorializing the 1969 Woodstock, N.Y., rock festival.

The state's six Democrats have not been shy about requesting money for local projects. In fact, Rep. Sanford Bishop of Albany, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, has opened his office to requests from city and county officials whose representatives have pledged not to seek earmarks.

"If the Republicans in the state of Georgia are unwilling to help their constituency to ask for money to fix the roads, fix the sewers, improve water systems, then Congressman Bishop will, " said his spokeswoman, Caroline Burns. She said his office has heard from the U.S. Department of Agriculture office in Watkinsville, which is in Broun's district, and the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning district, which includes areas represented by Republicans.

So far the House Appropriations Committee has completed five of the 12 spending bills needed to fund the federal government for the coming year. In the process, Georgia Democrats have picked up $24 million in earmarks, while the Republicans have less than $9 million, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group that monitors the process.

Any spending would still need approval by both houses of Congress and the signature of the president, which could be problematic in a contentious election year. Final passage of the appropriations bills and the earmarks they contain is expected to be delayed until late this year or early 2009.

Even so, winning committee approval is the first step, and Democrats have made certain that their most vulnerable members have been among the most successful. Rep. Jim Marshall, as a freshman lawmaker from Macon, has snared a hefty $5.25 million for an avionics facility at Robins Air Force Base. That provides at least bragging rights as the Democrat faces a re-election challenge in his conservative district.

Rep. John Barrow, another Democrat whose district leans conservative, has won committee approval for $7.5 million for troop training quarters in Savannah.

On the Republican side, nearly all of the local projects for Georgia that have made it through the House panel this year are sponsored by Kingston for military construction, although he has inserted others, including $200,000 for Atlanta's sewer and water drainage upgrades.

Rep. Phil Gingrey of Marietta, the only other Republican in the delegation to sponsor an earmark, joined Rep. David Scott, a Democrat from Atlanta, in asking for equipment for a Cobb County senior health center ($500,000) and for communications gear for the county's emergency responders ($100,000).

Gingrey's spokesman, Chris Jackson, said he would be seeking federal funding for the F-22.

Other Republicans would appear to be defying the conventional theory that the best way to stay in office is to bring federal dollars to the district.

"We've got to change that mentality, " said Rep. Broun, a hard-line foe of spending who this month won his primary in a district that stretches from Athens to Augusta.

"I want to leave dollars in people's pockets, not bring them pork, " said Broun of his pledge not to ask for projects or appropriations.

So although the University of Georgia is based in Athens and represented by Broun, the school administrators know they can't rely on him for research grants.

J. Scott Angle, dean of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, argued that congressionally directed grants are essential for research that "falls between the cracks" such as how much fertilizer is needed for watermelons. If studies find that less fertilizer is needed, it could protect the environment and save farmers' money, he said.

Asked about the impact of Broun's anti-earmark position, Angle said the school can look to other lawmakers for help.

"It's up to a representative to see the importance [of an earmark] and carry the water for that project, " the dean said. "There may be others who see the importance."

Chambliss, who is the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, has been "very helpful, " Angle said.

South of Atlanta a group of communities seeking $24 million for regional sewer and water renovations include Rep. Westmoreland's hometown of Grantville as well as Fayetteville, Pine Mountain and LaGrange.

"We're hopeful that Congress will come and help us, " said Tom Hall, city manager for LaGrange, one of the affected communities.

Hall declined to comment on Westmoreland's decision to swear off earmarks. But he said that when it comes to the sewer project, the city is in touch with Sen. Isakson's office.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

CURRENT

GEORGIA STATE

Georgia State University Science Park, built with help from past federal earmarks, is seeking $3 million that both Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss are requesting.

BUCKHEAD

The Buckhead Peachtree Corridor project, for which Isakson has asked $6 million, is a plan to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety.

RECENT

MARTA

This year, Isakson is asking for $1.4 million for up to 30 new compressed natural gas buses to replace 1996 models in MARTA's fleet of clean-fuel buses.

AIRPORT

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has constructed its fifth runway with extensive help from federal dollars secured by the Georgia congressional delegation.

EARMARKS

What is an earmark and how does the system work?

Congressional "earmarks" are projects and federal aid that lawmakers designate, usually for their home districts, during the annual process of passing spending bills for the overall government.

Programs that are "earmarked" are usually guaranteed funding without having to compete in the open bidding system of the federal departments.

Earmarks sponsored by Georgia lawmakers have gone for such projects as clean fuel buses, water and sewer renovations, park trails, port dredging, emergency radios and defense weapons manufacturing.

Typically, city governments, counties, airports and water authorities as well as individual constituents and businesses and their lobbyists ask for specific programs, and the individual lawmaker seeks "earmarks" for the items he determines to be top priority.

For the current fiscal year, Congress appropriated about $1 trillion, with about $17 billion set aside for congressional "earmarks."

For the coming year, Congress is expected to designate roughly $18 billion in earmarks.

Senior members of Congress, especially those on the appropriations committees, tend to win the most earmarks.