By NEIL H. SIMON, Media General News Service
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WASHINGTON-Seeking millions of federal dollars for everything from building mass transit at Dulles International Airport to studying organic sheep meat in southwest Virginia, three of Virginia's 11-member congressional delegation released their requests this week for federal funding of local projects.
In an election year when politicians are balancing local demands for federal money with a public distaste for earmarks, most representatives from Virginia chose not to disclose their requests.
"Far from being ashamed or wanting to hide them, we're proud of them," said Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., who requested $35 million for a new Kings Highway Bridge in Suffolk and listed all his requests on his Web site.
Reps. Rick Boucher, a Democrat, and Frank Wolf, a Republican, also released their requests.
"I believe in transparency," said Boucher, who requested $48.8 million for 39 projects, including $4 million to research improvements for military gear to reduce head, neck and chest injuries and $3 million for mine safety equipment.
But Boucher said he understands why many of his colleagues would rather keep their requests to themselves.
"If you make it public the counties that don't get requests are going to be upset," he said. Members of Congress "don't want the grief that comes" when those counties start calling.
Boucher requested funding to put a million dollar country music museum in Bristol, Va., buy fairgrounds for Grayson County, and improve the marketability of lamb's meat grown in his district.
Republican Rep. Eric Cantor made no requests for the second year in a row, a spokeswoman said. Cantor has called for a moratorium on the pet projects known as earmarks.
House members had to submit their earmark requests to the Appropriations Committee before Monday to be considered for funding.
"If I'm asking for something, it's important you know what I'm asking for," said Wolf, who requested continuing the roughly $250 million annual funding for mass transit in the Dulles corridor and $1.6 million for gang task forces in Fairfax County and the Shenandoah Valley.
Forbes requested $168.9 million for 44 projects, including funding to preserve the 18th-century Petersburg, Va., home of Revolutionary War figure Col. John Banister, and restore a 1910 jail in Isle of Wight County.
Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington-based advocacy group that publishes an annual report on wasteful spending, criticized the requests as contributing to a culture of back scratching in Congress that spirals spending out of control.
"It kind of has a ripple effect," said David Williams, the group's vice president for policy. "If you want your earmarks passed, you have to vote for other peoples' earmarks.
That's how it works."
But Williams applauded members who were open about their requests.
"(They) took the first step: releasing the list. The second step is not having the list in the first place, not making the request." Williams said.
Full Disclosure
Nothing requires lawmakers to disclose their requests, but under House rules adopted last year, any bill that includes earmarks must list each project and the member who requested it.
Open government advocates say lawmakers should be more upfront about the taxpayer dollars they seek.
"If you are willing to put in an earmark for a project, then you support it, and if you support it, why not stand up and tell everyone what projects you're supporting," said Jennifer Perkins, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government.
"This is still taxpayer money. I don't understand what the privacy interest is. You're not asking for private money," she said.
Lawmakers are often shy about releasing their requests to the public for several reasons. For one, there is the potential local backlash.
"You just can't make requests for everybody," Boucher said.
And those who announce their requests run the risk of appearing ineffective if the requests are not granted by appropriators who draft the final budget.
Last year, Forbes got 17 out of his 53 requested projects funded but only $17.2 million, or 7.6 percent, of the $226.2 million he asked for, according to an analysis by Congress.org, a non-partisan Web site aimed at increasing civic participation.
Republican Reps. Virgil Goode, Tom Davis, Bob Goodlatte and Thelma Drake all have kept their requests secret.
"He's following the normal procedure. He submits every year. His practice is not to release his requests," said Goode spokesman Linwood Duncan.
Democratic Reps. Jim Moran, Rick Boucher and Robert Scott did not disclose their requests.
"We do press releases on what we get in the bills when they pass the House," Moran spokesman Austin Durrer said.
Freshman Rep. Rob Wittman's office said their earmark requests would be listed online after staff communicates with local agencies who requested funding.
"The congressman feels it's important to speak to all parties involved before it's made public," said Wittman spokesman Trainor Walsh. "He has every intention of making it public."
In an election year when politicians are balancing local demands for federal money with a public distaste for earmarks, most representatives from Virginia chose not to disclose their requests.
"Far from being ashamed or wanting to hide them, we're proud of them," said Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., who requested $35 million for a new Kings Highway Bridge in Suffolk and listed all his requests on his Web site.
Reps. Rick Boucher, a Democrat, and Frank Wolf, a Republican, also released their requests.
"I believe in transparency," said Boucher, who requested $48.8 million for 39 projects, including $4 million to research improvements for military gear to reduce head, neck and chest injuries and $3 million for mine safety equipment.
But Boucher said he understands why many of his colleagues would rather keep their requests to themselves.
"If you make it public the counties that don't get requests are going to be upset," he said. Members of Congress "don't want the grief that comes" when those counties start calling.
Boucher requested funding to put a million dollar country music museum in Bristol, Va., buy fairgrounds for Grayson County, and improve the marketability of lamb's meat grown in his district.
Republican Rep. Eric Cantor made no requests for the second year in a row, a spokeswoman said. Cantor has called for a moratorium on the pet projects known as earmarks.
House members had to submit their earmark requests to the Appropriations Committee before Monday to be considered for funding.
"If I'm asking for something, it's important you know what I'm asking for," said Wolf, who requested continuing the roughly $250 million annual funding for mass transit in the Dulles corridor and $1.6 million for gang task forces in Fairfax County and the Shenandoah Valley.
Forbes requested $168.9 million for 44 projects, including funding to preserve the 18th-century Petersburg, Va., home of Revolutionary War figure Col. John Banister, and restore a 1910 jail in Isle of Wight County.
Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington-based advocacy group that publishes an annual report on wasteful spending, criticized the requests as contributing to a culture of back scratching in Congress that spirals spending out of control.
"It kind of has a ripple effect," said David Williams, the group's vice president for policy. "If you want your earmarks passed, you have to vote for other peoples' earmarks.
That's how it works."
But Williams applauded members who were open about their requests.
"(They) took the first step: releasing the list. The second step is not having the list in the first place, not making the request." Williams said.
Full Disclosure
Nothing requires lawmakers to disclose their requests, but under House rules adopted last year, any bill that includes earmarks must list each project and the member who requested it.
Open government advocates say lawmakers should be more upfront about the taxpayer dollars they seek.
"If you are willing to put in an earmark for a project, then you support it, and if you support it, why not stand up and tell everyone what projects you're supporting," said Jennifer Perkins, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government.
"This is still taxpayer money. I don't understand what the privacy interest is. You're not asking for private money," she said.
Lawmakers are often shy about releasing their requests to the public for several reasons. For one, there is the potential local backlash.
"You just can't make requests for everybody," Boucher said.
And those who announce their requests run the risk of appearing ineffective if the requests are not granted by appropriators who draft the final budget.
Last year, Forbes got 17 out of his 53 requested projects funded but only $17.2 million, or 7.6 percent, of the $226.2 million he asked for, according to an analysis by Congress.org, a non-partisan Web site aimed at increasing civic participation.
Republican Reps. Virgil Goode, Tom Davis, Bob Goodlatte and Thelma Drake all have kept their requests secret.
"He's following the normal procedure. He submits every year. His practice is not to release his requests," said Goode spokesman Linwood Duncan.
Democratic Reps. Jim Moran, Rick Boucher and Robert Scott did not disclose their requests.
"We do press releases on what we get in the bills when they pass the House," Moran spokesman Austin Durrer said.
Freshman Rep. Rob Wittman's office said their earmark requests would be listed online after staff communicates with local agencies who requested funding.
"The congressman feels it's important to speak to all parties involved before it's made public," said Wittman spokesman Trainor Walsh. "He has every intention of making it public."