Earmarks: Mum's the word

Some lawmakers call for transparency, while others keep secrets

Publication: LA Daily News

Lisa Friedman
September 30, 2007

WASHINGTON - Congress' Golden State members are among the growing chorus calling for more transparency in the federal budget process - but some insist on keeping their own requests for pet projects shrouded in secrecy.

Eight of Southern California's 15 lawmakers refused a Daily News request last week to supply their list of earmark requests and explain how they hope to spend federal tax dollars in the coming year.

"It shows at least some level of contempt for their constituents," said Steve Ellis, spokesman for the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense.

"If they are endorsing a project as a good expenditure for federal money, they have an obligation to tell their constituents, `This is what I'm supporting. This is what I think we should be spending our tax dollars on,"' Ellis said.

The stealth politicians include members of both parties. And some of them have blasted their opponents for failing to be transparent enough when it comes to earmarks.

Just last week, Republican Reps. Elton Gallegly of Thousand Oaks, Howard "Buck" McKeon of Santa Clarita, Gary Miller of Brea and Jerry Lewis of Redlands signed a petition demanding Democrats do more to publicize the authors of earmarks in authorization and tax bills.

While none of the lawmakers would speak about their decision to keep mum about their own earmarks, aides to Gallegly, Miller and Lewis noted the petition called for public disclosure of projects approved for funding, not those still under consideration.

A McKeon spokeswoman said the congressman's policy is to release information about projects after the House approves the funding.

Similarly, a number of Democrats who banged the drum of public disclosure during the 2006 election refused to reveal now what projects they feel deserve federal dollars.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, for example, last year criticized a Republican measure that demands lawmakers put their names on pet projects, saying it didn't go far enough.

Now a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Schiff released a statement saying, "I strongly believe that all projects funded by Congress should be disclosed."

Asked to explain why he won't reveal his own projects, a spokesman said the written statement "is all we have to say."

Similarly, a spokeswoman for Rep. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte, said the congresswoman has a policy to release earmarks only after they are funded.

"We are confident that we are releasing all the information that needs to be released," Solis spokeswoman Sonia Melendez said.

Also refusing to disclose were: Rep. Linda S nchez, D-Cerritos, who released a statement saying she is happy to discuss funded projects but did not explain her reasons for keeping requests secret.

And Rep. Jane Harman, D-El Segundo, did not respond to several requests for an explanation.

Privately, aides acknowledged that lawmakers typically don't like to reveal requests because they don't want to offend an organization or municipality that wasn't on the list - or whose members think the lawmaker should be seeking more money for a given project.

Moreover, they don't want to be publicly criticized if they fail to obtain funding.

But advocates of public disclosure criticized that reasoning.

"They want to be able to preserve the right to talk out of both sides of their mouths," Ellis said. "They want to be able to be everything to everybody, and withholding information makes that possible."

Those who did release their lists said they haven't suffered any drawbacks.

Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, for example, issued a press release in June listing his requests, which include: $2.3 million for equipment at Methodist Hospital in Arcadia; $7 million to construct sound walls along the 210 Freeway; and $5 million for a Rancho Cucamonga company developing a triage medical monitor.

Dreier said he knows he won't get all the money he is seeking, but said, "I've been proud of the requests that I've made."

Besides, he said, as the author of major lobbying and earmark reform when his party was in power, "I felt it was important to set an example."

Other lawmakers who disclosed their earmark requests were: Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach; Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks; Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys; and Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles.

Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, released his list of requests, but not the dollar amount.

Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Long Beach, who won a special election for her seat in August, entered Congress after the period for taking funding requests had already closed.

But watchdogs said that despite continued objections from a number of lawmakers, transparency has begun to spread through the halls of Congress.

"There's still a lot of work to be done, but there's definitely more transparency in the 110th Congress than we ever have had before," said Bill Allison, an investigator with the Sunlight Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Has it led to less spending in Washington?

Said Allison, "Too soon to tell."