Federal earmarks—love ‘em or hate ‘em? That’s a big question around the country these days, with last year’s budget including $15.9 billion in earmarks for 9,499 projects around the nation. Some argue that they help stimulate the economy. Others claim they just increase the deficit.
Representative Sam Farr (D-Carmel) is in the former category. He’s one of the great champions of earmarks in the House, so it should come as no surprised that this year he is asking for $159 million for 59 separate projects. His pet projects include money to fix up the new rail line between Davenport and Watsonville. He also wants to run commuter trains from Silicon Valley all the way to Salinas, with a stop in Pajaro, of course. But Farr isn’t just about trains. He’d like to improve water recycling in Watsonville, build the county a new psychiatric hospital and help Dominican Hospital deal with high-risk pregnancies.
Once again the question is whether the government can afford all that right now. People on both sides of the aisle say no, and earmark requests are down considerably because of the federal deficit. On the other hand, with the state budget what it is, some people, including Luis Mendez, Deputy Director of the county’s Regional Transportation Commission, are calling federal earmarks “useful.” It remains to see if they get through Congress. Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
