WASHINGTON — Sen. Alex Padilla boasts he’s secured about $250 million for 134 projects, ranging from bike and pedestrian path improvements to flood control.
The California Democrat, like most of his colleagues from both parties, is embracing the much-maligned system of earmarks — pork-barrel spending that rewards a member of Congress while not subjecting the expenditures to serious scrutiny.
The system “bypasses the normal process in which projects have to compete on their merits,” said Republican Rep. Tom McClintock, one of four California House members who did not seek earmarks.
Most members of Congress do champion funding for local public works, and four of the top five recipients this year have been Republicans, according to data compiled by Citizens Against Government Waste, a conservative fiscal watchdog.
Padilla said that his projects go through a thorough legislative process before funding is secured.
“All projects were reviewed by our office, publicly posted, and approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee before being included in the final funding bill that passed with strong bipartisan support,” said Padilla spokesman Sam Mahood.
Earmarks were banned in 2011 after a series of scandals, but returned last year. Lawmakers saw them as not only tapping into their local expertise, but just as important, they were a way of building the sort of bipartisan coalitions needed to pass big money bills. The practice was rebranded as “community project funding,” subject to new rules aimed at preventing wasteful spending and conflicts of interest. But it is still best known unofficially as earmarking.
One reason for the sudden interest in earmarks is that Republicans are hammering away at what they say is excessive federal spending and a deeply flawed legislative process.
Critics say that COVID-related spending measures, including 2020 legislation signed by President Donald Trump, has helped send the rate of inflation to levels unseen since 1981.
Mahood disagreed with the idea that earmarks are a big cause of more spending.
“This process is not about spending more money, it’s about Congress reclaiming its authority over how federal funding is allocated,” he said. “Elected representatives, who understand the needs of the communities they represent, should have more of a say in which projects are funded rather than executive branch agency officials.”
Local projects
Padilla’s earmarks were part of a $1.5 trillion federal spending bill President Joe Biden signed in March. Among the projects are the Sacramento River Flood Plain reactivation. He helped secure $5 million to help strengthen flood protection, recharge groundwater aquifers and protect the ecosystem.
Among the other Sacramento area projects:
— $3.9 million for the Sacramento River Fish Screen Program. Screens help protect endangered fish species from entering dams or other hazardous structures. Padilla said it would also “ensure a sustainable, efficient, and reliable water supply for agricultural and municipal needs.”
— $2.2 million for the Sacramento Vision Zero School Safety Project. The money will pay for safety measures such as crosswalks, curb ramps, traffic calming tools and new signs around the schools and their neighborhoods.
— $2 million for flood controls in Lower Cache Creek in Yolo County. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is planning, engineering and designing measures for Lower Cache Creek.
— $1.7 million for University of California, Davis’ Digital Health Equity Program. The program aims to improve and continue care for vulnerable populations in the Sacramento area and elsewhere.
— $1.5 million for the City of Sacramento’s 24th Street Combined Sewer System Storage Pipe Project. The project aims to ease wastewater overflow with the installation of pipe on 24th Street between H and K Streets in Sacramento.
— $350,000 for a Rancho Cordova Youth Center. The money will help with startup costs and staffing, computer lab equipment, art supplies, books and sports equipment.
Earmarks
Citizens Against Government Waste has issued a 44-page “Pig Book” detailing what it called the worst examples of earmarking.
Earmarks were ended after reports about a number of dubious expenditures, most notably the Alaska “Bridge to Nowhere,” a $223 million project to connect the city of Ketchikan to its airport and 50 residents on nearby Gravina Island.
When the practice was revived last year, new, strict guidelines were imposed. For-profit interests were barred from getting money, House members were limited to 10 projects, and House and Senate lawmakers must certify that neither they nor immediate family members had any financial interest in the ventures. The Senate put a dollar cap on the projects, but senators were able to get far more than House members.
Members of both parties eagerly sought projects. Four of the top five earmarkers are Republicans, according to a ranking compiled by CAGW, topped by Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., ($647.9 million).
Padilla ranks eighth. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a member of the Appropriations Committee, is sixth ($312 million). Many of the senators’ projects were sponsored jointly.
For Padilla, showing an ability to secure the spending is an asset in an election year.
“Senator Padilla is on the ballot, so any opportunity to show he is bringing home the bacon is good politics and good policy. For a freshman senator to have a haul like that for his home state is impressive,” said Steven Maviglio, a Democratic consultant.
McClintock, also up for reelection, had a different take. He did not mention Padilla, but questioned why local governments could not fund such projects.
“Local projects should be financed by local communities,” he said. Putting on a project list says “the project is so low on the priority list they don’t dare spend the taxpayer’s funds.”
State and local governments routinely rely on federal aid for public works such as roads and and flood control systems.
Spending on bike paths
Citizens Against Government Waste was particularly critical of Padilla’s four bicycle and pedestrian bridge projects.
CAGW singled out $350,000 for the Iron Horse Trail Bridge, Nature Park and Pedestrian Safety project in the East Bay area.
The group gave the Padilla initiative its “This pork was made for walking” award. Padilla’s office explained that the money will “provide safety improvements and enhancements to the Iron Horse Trail across multiple jurisdictions, including the installation of a pedestrian bridge and bicycle lanes.”
Tom Schatz, CAGW’s president, said he cited pedestrian and bike path funds because the $1 trillion infrastructure bill President Joe Biden signed in November had billions of dollars aimed at promoting bike and pedestrian safety.
“It was the largest infrastructure bill in history. There should be plenty of money around for everybody to get a bike path. It should go through the usual review process,” he said.
Padilla’s office noted that the projects have been underway for some time. Many of the bike and pedestrian projects, as well as others, “have been waiting years to move forward ... to improve public safety, economic development, and education,” Mahood said.
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