Citizens Help Tally Which Lawmakers Disclosed their 2009 Earmark Requests Online

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 15, 2008

Contact: Gabriela Schneider 202/742-1520 ext 236

WASHINGTON, DC – At least 76 lawmakers have disclosed their fiscal year 2009 earmark requests online, with a majority posting their requests on their official Web sites and another 11 disclosing directly to the media. An additional 46 have foregone earmarks for fiscal year 2009, while 10 members of Congress said they will not disclose their earmark requests. All these findings are according to a collaborative study by citizen journalists organized by the Sunlight Foundation in conjunction with Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) and Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS).

To create more transparency about the earmarking process, Sunlight, CAGW and TCS called on citizens to help collect information to reveal which members of Congress voluntarily disclosed their fiscal year 2009 earmark requests. Sunlight maintains that list on its Web site, and will continue to update it as more members of Congress disclose their earmark requests online.

“While who's asking for what in this 'earmark gold rush on the Potomac' is already known to the insiders on the Appropriations Committee, the public is left in the dark,” said Bill Allison, senior fellow of the Sunlight
Foundation. “We decided to see if, while we're waiting for the official disclosures from the committees, we can prevail upon members of Congress to be a bit more forthcoming, and asked citizens to help us reveal which
lawmakers post their earmark requests online.”

Dozens of citizens participated in the effort, calling on congressional offices and asking lawmakers whether they had disclosed their earmark requests, and urging all to disclose them on their Web sites. Additional
lawmakers have pledged to disclose their earmark requests online, but have yet to do so.

The Sunlight Foundation supports, develops and deploys new Internet technologies to make information about Congress and the federal government more accessible to the American people. Through its projects and
grant-making, Sunlight serves as a catalyst to create greater political transparency and to foster more openness and accountability in government. Visit SunlightFoundation.com to learn more about Sunlight’s projects,
including LetOurCongressTweet.org, EarmarkWatch.org and OpenCongress.org.
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