Congress actually banned earmarks back in 2011, but now some Democrats are trying to resurrect them. Moments ago I introduced a bill in the House that would stop this effort in its tracks and make permanent the federal ban on earmarks, because they’re a horrible way to appropriate your tax dollars.
For background information, earmarks direct a specific amount of money for a specific project, and are usually baked into federal spending appropriations bills. Without getting too deep in the weeds, here are a few of overly simple comparisons:
✅ Not an Earmark: appropriating money for Interstate road maintenance. In this example, the money is allocated and then the various agencies prioritize the use of those funds according to all pending Interstate maintenance projects. Nothing wrong with that.
👎 Earmark: appropriating money to repave I-95 in Florida between mile markers 10 – 20. This allocates a specific amount of money for a specific project in a specific location, and totally undermines the prioritization of other (perhaps more urgent) needs under the umbrella of Interstate road maintenance.
