Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

An earmark is funding set aside in legislation for specific projects or programs.   Although earmarks account for less than 2 percent of the federal government’s 2009 budget, it’s important to note that they are one of the only ways members of Congress can exercise to advance budget priorities for their states. 

The term “earmark” has earned a bad reputation because it was associated with controversial provisions that were secretly inserted into legislation during late-night negotiations.  But in recent years, Congress has done a lot to ensure that earmarks are subject to public scrutiny, and this year we’ll be providing even more transparency. 

If a member of Congress wishes to support a particular program an initiative -- such as an upgrade to a road -- he or she submits a request for funding to the committee that writes the 12 spending bills that fund government operations.  If a project is deemed worthy of Congressional support, funding for it can be inserted as the bill is being written in committee.  A member of Congress can also offer an amendment to support the project, or a provision for funding can be added when the House of Representatives and Senate meet to negotiate a final version of the bill. 

Congress and President Obama are both moving to implement new standards that will increase transparency and limit the number of earmarks in the budget.  President Obama has asked Congress to produce legislation to this end.  In the meantime, Congressional leaders already established new standards for funding requests.  It is my hope that this will signal a new era of responsibility with public funds, and a commitment to transparency so Americans will be more confident in how their tax dollars are being spent.

Starting now for fiscal year 2010 (FY10), all official funding requests made to me will be published on my website.  Anyone will be able to access the form to make a funding request, see who requested funding, how much they requested, the project or purpose they are requesting funding for, and ultimately, whether they receive that funding.  This will make it easy to monitor what earmarks are destined for New Mexico, and how exactly New Mexicans will benefit from them.

Furthermore, once legislation has been passed, all funding requests within that legislation will be listed on a new website: USAspending.gov along with the name of the requesting Member of Congress.  Openly listing all requests and all awards will help increase accountability with your taxpayer dollars, and will allow taxpayers to hold lawmakers who make wasteful requests responsible.

The president and several members of Congress have also proposed that earmarks for for-profit companies be subject to competitive bidding practices.  This and several other proposals are being considered, and once a final protocol is adopted, I will address is here on my website.

Remember that earmark requests are not the only way to acquire federal support for projects; there are a number of grant and loan opportunities available, in addition to funding available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.