Congressional earmarks sometimes used to fund projects near lawmakers' properties

By David S. Fallis, Scott Higham and Kimberly Kindy, Published: February 6

A U.S. senator from Alabama directed more than $100 million in federal earmarks to renovate downtown Tuscaloosa near his own commercial office building. A congressman from Georgia secured $6.3 million in taxpayer funds to replenish the beach about 900 feet from his island vacation cottage. A representative from Michigan earmarked $486,000 to add a bike lane to a bridge within walking distance of her home.

Thirty-three members of Congress have directed more than $300 million in earmarks and other spending provisions to dozens of public projects that are next to or within about two miles of the lawmakers’ own property, according to a Washington Post investigation.


Under the ethics rules Congress has written for itself, this is both legal and undisclosed.

The Post analyzed public records on the holdings of all 535 members and compared them with earmarks members had sought for pet projects, most of them since 2008. The process uncovered appropriations for work in close proximity to commercial and residential real estate owned by the lawmakers or their family members. The review also found 16 lawmakers who sent tax dollars to companies, colleges or community programs where their spouses, children or parents work as salaried employees or serve on boards.

(View the full results of the Post investigation.) see link and story below

In recent weeks, lawmakers have acknowledged the public’s growing concern that they appeared to be using their positions to enrich themselves. In response, the Senate last week passed legislation that would require lawmakers to disclose mortgages for their residences. The bill, known as the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (Stock) Act, would also require lawmakers and executive branch officials to disclose securities trades of more than $1,000 every 30 days. At the same time, the Senate defeated an amendment, 59-40, that would have permanently outlawed earmarks.

The House is scheduled to vote on the Stock Act on Thursday.

Earmarks have long been controversial, with the focus on spending that unduly favors campaign donors or constituents. The Post’s review is the first systematic effort to examine the alignment of earmarks with lawmakers’ private interests.

Earmarks are a fraction of the federal budget, and the numbers uncovered by The Post are relatively small in the scheme of the overall Congress, but the behavior by lawmakers from both parties points to a larger issue at a time when confidence in Capitol Hill is at an all-time low.

The congressional financial disclosure system obscures certain relationships. Lawmakers are not required to disclose the addresses of their personal residences or the employment of their children and parents. The lawmakers are also allowed to put properties in holding companies without disclosing the properties’ locations. Current versions of the Stock Act would not change that. To provide a fuller portrait of congressional connections, The Post compared the financial disclosure forms with the public record to track spending on projects near legislators’ properties or on programs employing their relatives.

Page 2

In interviews, lawmakers said their earmarks were needs brought to them by the city and state officials they represent to help pay for safer roads, nicer neighborhoods or improved local economies. They characterized questions about the nearby locations of their own holdings as irrelevant, insisting there is no conflict. Any potential personal benefit — financial or otherwise — is nonexistent, minimal or secondary to the needs of the public, they said.

Mere proximity to a lawmaker’s property does not establish that an earmark was unwarranted. In some cases, the public benefit of the spending was large, improving life for thousands. In others, the benefit appeared narrower. In some cases, the work was within a mile or two of the properties; in others, it was directly in front of the lawmaker’s land.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) secured a $900,000 earmark that was used to resurface about two dozen roads in Mississippi in 2010. One of those was LC Turner Circle, a quarter-mile residential loop in the small town of Bolton, where Thompson and his daughter own two homes.

Thompson said it was one of numerous paving earmarks he secured for his district.

“I didn’t say, ‘Do the street that I live on,’ ” Thompson said. “The earmark went to the county. It had no designation on it whatsoever, and that was it.”

Bolton Mayor Lawrence Butler said city leaders chose to repave the street, where about 48 families live, because “it had gone to the dogs.” Butler described Thompson as a close friend but said the lawmaker “didn’t have anything to do with where the asphalt went.”

By design, ethics rules governing Congress are intended to preserve the freedom of members to direct federal spending in their districts, a process known as earmarking. Such spending has long been cloaked in secrecy and only in recent years has been subjected to more transparency.

Although Congress has imposed numerous conflict-of-interest rules on federal agencies and private businesses, the rules it has set for itself are far more permissive.

Lawmakers are required to certify that they do not have a financial stake in the actions they take. In the cases The Post examined, not one lawmaker mentioned that he or she owned property that was near the earmarked project or had a relative who was employed by the company or institution that received the earmark. The reason: Nothing in congressional rules requires them to do so, and the rules do not address proximity.

Congress’s interpretation of what constitutes a conflict is narrowly construed: If lawmakers or their immediate families are not the sole beneficiaries, there is considered to be no conflict.

The chambers of Congress have different standards. In the Senate, members must certify that neither they nor their “immediate” family members have a financial interest. But in the House, only lawmakers and their spouses are covered, not children or parents.

The economic impact of earmarks on lawmakers’ properties was often difficult to determine. Many of the earmarks documented by The Post went to projects still underway. Public works projects can have the immeasurable benefit of stabilizing land values in the volatile market of recent years.

The rest of the article pages 3,4,5 is here :

Congressional earmarks sometimes used to fund projects near lawmakers' properties - The Washington Post




(View the full results of the Post investigation.) Here is the Post Investigation article, the article link is below

Public projects, private interests

The Post compared the annual financial disclosure reports filed by every member of Congress over the past decade to a wide range of public records. The resulting snapshot was then matched to earmarks and other spending provisions members sought for pet projects. The process uncovered nearly 50 members who helped direct millions of dollars in earmarks to projects that either held the potential to enhance the surroundings of a lawmaker's own property, or aided entities connected to their immediate family. Lawmakers said their earmarks and spending provisions were done to benefit the public, not their private interests.

Earmarks near lawmakers' property
Mapping the earmarks
One senator's story

Family connections
Norm Dicks

Dicks secured a $1.8 million earmark for a Washington state environmental agency where his son worked as executive director.
Ed Pastor

During the past six years, Pastor has directed millions to fund a scholarship program headed by his daughter in Arizona.
Sheila Jackson Lee

Jackson Lee earmarked millions of tax dollars to the University of Houston at the same time her husband was a senior administrator.
Rob Bishop

From 2008 to 2010, Bishop helped earmark $1.5 million to Utah's Weber State University, where his son now works as a lobbyist.
Explore the spending
Select a lawmaker
List view Grid view

Scroll over a lawmaker to read about the spending in question and to see the lawmaker's response.
Rep. Robert B. Aderholt (R - Ala.)
Get link

Spending with family connections: $440,000

Since 2008, Aderholt has helped secure about $440,000 for the University of Montevallo while his wife served on the university's board of trustees. Aderholt said in a statement that he had obtained earmarks for many other Alabama schools. "I have a long history of supporting higher education, including community colleges and four year colleges and universities, in the state of Alabama," Aderholt said in a statement. A Montevallo spokesman said trustees do not review the university's requests for grants or federal appropriations.

Full statement provided by Rep. Aderholt
Rep. Todd Akin (R - Mo.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $3.3 million

View this earmark on a map

Between 2005 and 2009, Akin helped secure $3.3 million to upgrade part of Route 141 in his district west of St. Louis. Less than a half-mile east of Route 141, Akin and his family own nine acres. Akin's family has applied to construct six homes on the land. His spokesman said Akin's land had no bearing on his support for the earmarks. "It is going to be helpful as a connector but not helpful for residential property values whatsoever," he said.
Rep. Robert E. Andrews (D - N.J.)
Get link

Spending with family connections: $3.3 million

Andrews has helped secure $3.3 million over the past decade for a scholarship program at Rutgers School of Law in Camden, N.J., where his wife is an associate dean in charge of scholarships and special legal programs, according to the school's Web site. Andrews sought an ethics opinion, and the committee concluded his wife had no "ownership interest" in the law school and the earmarks did not "affect the spouse's salary." The congressman said the earmarks help to provide legal services to the poor and his wife has no direct oversight of the program.
Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (R - Md.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $4.5 million

View this earmark on a map

Bartlett, since 2005, has helped secure about $4.5 million toward improving Interstate 270 and Buckeystown Pike. From there, Buckeystown Pike leads south and west to Bartlett's home, his farm and rental properties that earn the lawmaker up to $150,000 a year. "His personal benefit was no different than that of tens of thousands of his constituents," Bartlett's spokeswoman said. "Coincidentally, this was around two miles from his farm.'
Rep. Joe Barton (R - Tex.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $3 million

View this earmark on a map

In recent years, Barton helped secure about $2.98 million toward widening about three miles of the U.S. 287 bypass in Ennis, where Barton owns two homes. Barton said his homes have no bearing on his support for the earmarks. The work, he said, is critical to traffic safety. "I have put as much effort into 287 between Midlothian and Fort Worth and Arlington as I have around Ennis," Barton said. "There is no personal benefit to me ... it is a general benefit to the community."
Rep. Rob Bishop (R - Utah)
Get link

Spending with family connections: $1.5 million

From 2007 to 2010, Bishop helped earmark $1.5 million to Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, where his son, Shule, works as a state government lobbyist. The congressman said he asked for the earmarks before his son was hired and they posed no conflict. A university official said "having the son of a congressman in a government relations role at the state level, that does create some conflicts," so the school ensures he does not work on federal matters.
Rep. Sanford D. Bishop Jr. (D - Ga.)
Get link

Spending with family connections: $200,000

News organizations in Georgia reported that Bishop helped secure nearly $200,000 in 2008 and 2009 for a middle school mentoring program that employed Bishop's stepdaughter and her husband. Bishop told reporters that he did not know his stepdaughter and her husband worked for the program, and once he found out, he ended the earmarks. "It happened, he's been cleared by the ethics committee, and he's moved on," a Bishop spokesman said.
Rep. Corrine Brown (D - Fla.)
Get link

Spending with family connections: $16.9 million

Between 2005 and 2010, Brown helped secure $21.9 million for six clients of a lobbying firm where her daughter works. The clients paid the firm more than $1 million to represent them before Congress. Brown was the sole sponsor of $1.79 million in earmarks sent to a seventh client, the Community Rehabilitation Center, while her daughter worked as a lobbyist on behalf of the center, the Florida Times-Union reported in 2010. The congresswoman declined requests for an interview. Her daughter did not respond to requests for comment.
Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D - N.C.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $817,500

View this earmark on a map

Butterfield has helped obtain $817,500 over the past few years toward revitalizing buildings in Wilson, N.C. The lawmaker owns 19 properties within three-quarters of a mile of the project. The congressman's spokeswoman said his properties are outside of the revitalization area. "The location of the Downtown Wilson buildings in no way influenced his decision to support the projects," she said. "The City of Wilson developed these projects without his consultation or input, and there is no potential for Butterfield to personally benefit."

Full statement provided by Rep. Butterfield
Rep. Ken Calvert (R - Calif.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $1.2 million

View this earmark on a map

From 2004 to 2009, Calvert helped secure $1.2 million for the Corona Transit Center. The project is near seven of Calvert's rental properties. The House Ethics Committee determined the project would not have a "direct and foreseeable effect" on Calvert's real estate. "The request did not constitute a conflict of interest," Calvert said.

Full statement provided by Rep. Calvert
Rep. Danny K. Davis (D - Ill.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $800,000

View this earmark on a map

Davis secured an $800,000 earmark in 2005 for a now-completed study that recommends building a deck over the Dwight D. Eisenhower Expressway in Oak Park, Ill. His home is 1.4 miles from the proposed project. "The people in Oak Park, they are some of the most politically active people in America. They decided this was something that would be of benefit to their community. They asked for it, and after that it was a no-brainer. I asked for it on their behalf," Davis said.
Rep. Norm Dicks (D - Wash.)
Get link

Spending with family connections: $16.8 million

In 2008, Dicks, as an appropriations chairman, secured a $1.82 million earmark for a Washington state environmental agency where his son worked as executive director, according to White House records. Over the next three years, the congressman also sent $15 million to the Environmental Protection Agency, which gave the funds in noncompetitive grants to his son's agency, the Puget Sound Partnership. "I don't think there was a conflict. We are all trying our best to restore Puget Sound," Dicks said.
Rep. Joe Donnelly (D - Ind.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $935,000

View this earmark on a map

In 2008, Donnelly sponsored a $935,000 earmark to dredge Michigan City Harbor in the northwest corner of his Indiana district. The harbor is about two miles down the beach from a home Donnelly owns along the shore of Lake Michigan. A spokeswoman for Donnelly said the city's mayor requested the project, it was vetted by the ethics committee and it had been funded by Congress "in fourteen of the last eighteen fiscal years before Congressman Donnelly first took office."

Full statement provided by Rep. Donnelly
Rep. Kay Granger (R - Tex.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property with
family connections: $51.9 million

View this earmark on a map

Over the past decade, Granger has helped obtain $51.9 million in earmarks toward a project to make over downtown Fort Worth and reroute the Trinity River. Until 2010, Granger co-owned a condominium building with her son about a half-mile south of the project. Her son is director of the group in charge of the project. "The congresswoman has always given her support to qualified programs in full compliance with the House Ethics Committee and the rules of the House of Representatives," her spokesman said.
Rep. Doc Hastings (R - Wash.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $750,000

View this earmark on a map

In 2009, Hastings secured a $750,000 earmark to replace an outdated railroad underpass with a new bridge in Pasco, Wash. Columbia Basin Paper & Supply, a janitorial business that Hastings owned and ran until he was elected, is about three blocks to the west. His brother now operates the company, but Hastings and his wife still own the land and the building. Hastings said the location of his property had no bearing on his support for the project. "Every business in Pasco will benefit," he said.
Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey (D - N.Y.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $1.8 million

View this earmark on a map

In Saugerties, a village in upstate New York, Hinchey in 2005 earmarked $960,000 to upgrade downtown streets. In 2009, he secured $800,000 to overhaul sewer lines. Hinchey is a partner in a hotel development in the heart of the village and values his interest at $250,000 to $500,000. Hinchey's spokesman said "the congressman has a less than 1 percent stake" in the project and it "is several blocks from the crosswalks and does not connect to the sewer lines set to be repaired .... There is no conflict of interest."

Full statement provided by Rep. Hinchey
Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D - Tex.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $665,000

View this earmark on a map

In 2009, Hinojosa obtained a $665,000 earmark to help widen a road next to a 3.7-acre commercial property that his family partnership was developing and near the family food processing plant in Mercedes, Tex. Hinojosa said he saw no conflict in securing an earmark for work next to his property or the plant. "It helps everybody," he said. "The only way it made sense to handle this tremendous population growth and avoid problems for the school buses that go through that intersection was to widen it."
Sen. James M. Inhofe (R - Okla.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $1.8 million

View this earmark on a map

Inhofe's wife, through a family company, co-owns a commercial property in Owasso, on the edge of Tulsa. The office building sits on a local road near U.S. 169. Since 2008, Inhofe has helped secure about $1.8 million in earmarks to study the widening of the road, including the stretch that passes near his wife's property. An Inhofe spokesman said local officials requested the earmarks and the widening "is a highly beneficial project that will create new jobs and do much to strengthen Oklahoma's economy."

Full statement provided by Sen. Inhofe
Rep. Steve Israel (D - N.Y.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $490,000

View this earmark on a map

In 2008, Israel earmarked $490,000 to study a bypass road to ease congestion along a busy commercial corridor that borders the congressman's neighborhood in Dix Hills. The project has stalled and the money has yet to be spent. "This transportation hub has occupied the discourse at the town, county, state and federal level for years," an Israel spokeswoman said. "The congressman's personal residence has nothing to do with his decision to engage on an issue that affects tens of thousands of his constituents on a daily basis."
Rep. Darrell Issa (R - Calif.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $815,000

View this earmark on a map

Issa secured $815,000 in earmarks between 2007 and 2009 to widen a road less than a mile from a medical building in Vista, Calif., that Issa purchased for $16.6 million in 2008. Issa sold the property on Jan. 19 for $15 million. These earmarks were first reported in March by the Center for American Progress and in August by the New York Times. "Rep. Issa's request for the widening project was made on behalf of local leaders and predated his purchase of the medical center building," a spokesman said."

Full statement provided by Rep. Issa
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D - Tex.)
Get link

Spending with family connections: $5.3 million

Jackson Lee helped secure $5.25 million to the University of Houston in 2009 and 2010 while her husband was vice president of student affairs and vice chancellor of student affairs for the university system. Jackson Lee's staff did not respond to requests for comment. "None of the Congressional earmarks secured by UH was directed to the areas under my supervision," Elwyn C. Lee said in a statement. "To reiterate, it is not my responsibility, and it has never been my responsibility, to secure Congressional earmarks. Therefore, there has been no conflict to manage."

Full statement provided by Rep. Jackson-Lee
Sen. Tim Johnson (D - S.D.)
Get link

Spending with family connections: $4 million

In 2008, Johnson, along with seven other senators, added $4 million to a Pentagon program to fund math and science education called STARBASE. Johnson's wife worked as a contract employee evaluating the program between 2005 and 2011. "Senator Johnson's support of increased funding for STARBASE was not an earmark under the definition of a congressionally directed spending item as defined by the Senate Rules," a spokesman for the senator said.

Full statement provided by Sen. Johnson
Rep. Jack Kingston (R - Ga.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $6.3 million

View this earmark on a map

Kingston co-sponsored a $6.3 million earmark in 2008 to replenish the beach on Tybee Island, where he owns a cottage about 900 feet from the beach. "It's absurd to suggest that this benefits me," he said.
Rep. Robert E. Latta (R - Ohio)
Get link

Spending with family connections: $2.8 million

Latta co-sponsored $2.8 million in earmarks in 2009 and 2010 for water and wind research at Bowling Green State University at the time that his wife was a university senior vice president. Latta said he sought an ethics opinion. "I didn't want to hurt the university because of my wife's employment," he said, adding that the ethics committee concluded there was no conflict. "She was a fundraiser raising private dollars. That's completely different than water quality or wind research."
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R - Calif.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $2.7 million

View this earmark on a map

Lewis helped secure $2.7 million from 2004 to 2008 to redevelop the historic Barracks Row, which is four blocks from Lewis's D.C. home. The money will be used to improve the Eastern Market Metro stop and two parks. The earmarks were reported by media outlets. A Lewis spokesman said the congressman requested the money on behalf of D.C. officials, adding, "He did not purchase his home as an investment property, and gave no consideration at all to whether this project would improve his property value."

Full statement provided by Rep. Lewis
Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D - Ill.)
Get link

Spending with family connections: $2.5 million

Lipinski cosponsored $2.5 million in earmarks since taking office in 2005 for rail projects overseen by the Chicago Transit Authority. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the CTA is a lobbying client of his father, William Lipinski, a former congressman. The CTA has paid William Lipinski $766,330.20 in lobbying fees since 2007. "His father does not lobby him on behalf of his clients on transportation or any other issues," a Lipinski spokesman said. "In these, as in other areas, Congressman Lipinski is focused on doing what is best for his constituents."

Full statement provided by Rep. Lipinski
Rep. Frank A. LoBiondo (R - N.J.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $4.7 million

View this earmark on a map

Since 2008, LoBiondo has helped secure $4.68 million for beach monitoring and nourishment along the shores of Ventnor City, N.J., where he and his wife own a home about 850 feet from the beach. LoBiondo's spokesman said the congressman earmarked funds for work on that beach years before moving there and has secured greater amounts of funding for other beaches along the Jersey Shore "without consideration of the financial impact to himself."

Full statement provided by Rep. LoBiondo
Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D - Mass.)
Get link

Spending with family connections: $2.3 million

Since 2003, Lynch has earmarked $2.3 million to two community programs in Boston connected to his wife. She is the director of marketing and development for one of the programs, the South Boston Community Health Center, which received $1.2 million in earmarks to help teens with substance abuse problems. Lynch said he received an ethics opinion permitting the earmarks. "That funding is program specific," Lynch said. "Her salary comes from the Health Center's general operating budget."
Rep. Candice S. Miller (R - Mich.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $486,000

View this earmark on a map

Miller secured a $486,000 earmark in 2006 to help add a 14-foot-wide bike lane to a new bridge over the Clinton River, about 900 feet from her home. "People earmark for all kinds of things," Miller said. "I'm pretty proud of this; I think I did what my people wanted. Should I have told them, 'We can never have this bike path complete because I happen to live by one section of it'? They would have thrown me out of office."
Rep. Gary G. Miller (R - Calif.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $1.3 million

View this earmark on a map

Miller secured $1.28 million in earmarks in 2005 to help repave, re-landscape and install new drains along Grand Avenue in Diamond Bar, Calif. The project, previously reported by The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin of Ontario, upgraded an access road for a residential and retail development that he co-owned with a campaign donor. Miller sold the property months after securing the earmark. "At no time did Congressman Miller use his position to promote or enhance his personal business partnerships," Miller's spokeswoman said.

Full statement provided by Rep. Miller
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R - Alaska)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $6.9 million

View this earmark on a map

Murkowski co-sponsored $6.9 million worth of earmarks between 2005 and 2009 for a road project that began near property she purchased from a friend and real estate developer at a reduced price. After media reports about the land deal, Murkowski sold the parcel back to the developer. Murkowski said through a spokesman that she had long backed the project with the support of local and state officials. "All my efforts and actions were proper on this project," she said.

Full statement provided by Sen. Murkowski
Rep. John W. Olver (D - Mass.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $5.1 million

View this earmark on a map

Between 2003 and 2008, Olver secured $5.1 million in earmarks for a road project and intersection near Hampshire College. The project begins 209 feet from the congressman's 15-acre home and several adjoining parcels he owns with his wife. Olver said local officials requested the project. "I am concerned about appearances. But I had no monetary interest whatsoever in this project," Olver said. "I had nothing to do with the design. I was never notified of any of the hearings. I had no involvement whatsoever."
Rep. Ed Pastor (D - Ariz.)
Get link

Spending with family connections: $4 million

Between 2005 and 2010, Pastor earmarked about $4 million from an Energy Department agency tasked with securing the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile to a program for at-risk teenagers at Maricopa Community Colleges. His daughter runs the program. "The perception is that you helped your daughter, but if you evaluate the kids who benefited from this, it was worth doing," the congressman said.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D - Calif.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $50 million

View this earmark on a map

Over the past decade, the House minority leader helped secure $50 million in earmarks toward a light-rail project that provides direct access to San Francisco's Union Square and Chinatown for neighborhoods south of Market Street. Pelosi's husband owns a four-story commercial building blocks from Union Square. These earmarks were reported in the book "Throw Them All Out." A Pelosi spokesman said the project was requested by community leaders and that the new stations on the line will be farther away from the building than those on the existing line.

Full statement provided by Rep. Pelosi
Rep. Nick J. Rahall II (D - W.Va.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $20.1 million

View this earmark on a map

In 2005, Rahall helped secure $20 million toward a parking garage with a bus and taxi facility in downtown Beckley. The project is about a half-mile from his son's home, less than one mile from a commercial property owned by the lawmaker, and a little more than a mile from his residence. A Rahall spokeswoman said: "Neither his home, nor rental building on Harper Road, nor his son's home on Prince Street, have any connection to, nor gain economically from, the Beckley Intermodal facility."

Full statement provided by Rep. Rahall
Sen. Harry M. Reid (D - Nev.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $21.5 million

View this earmark on a map

In 2004 and 2005, the Senate majority leader secured $21.5 million to build a bridge over the Colorado River, linking the gambling resort town of Laughlin, Nev., with Bullhead City, Ariz. Reid owns 160 acres of undeveloped land in Bullhead City. The earmarks were previously reported by the Los Angeles Times. "As has been stated before, Senator Reid's support for the bridge has absolutely nothing to do with the property he owns and is based on the fact that the project is good for southern Nevada, and nothing else," a Reid spokeswoman said.
Rep. Harold Rogers (R - Ky.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $7.1 million

View this earmark on a map

Rogers has helped earmark $7.1 million since 2002 to a project that made over a half-mile strip of College Street where Rogers has his residence. The project narrowed parts of the street to slow traffic, buried overhead utilities, rebuilt sidewalks, paved streets and installed new driveway aprons, curbs and decorative lamps. "Congressman Rogers sees no conflict of interest in helping local leaders achieve their goals for growth at large or in this case in particular," his spokesman said.

Full statement provided by Rep. Rogers
Rep. Mike Ross (D - Ark.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $2.6 million

View this earmark on a map

In 2005, Ross helped secure about $2.6 million toward the construction of a railroad trestle in Prescott about one-third mile from a building he owns. "In no way did Congressman Ross benefit financially from the overpass nor was that ever a factor in his support for the project," the spokesman said. "Congressman Ross supported the project, as had local and state officials for years before him, because emergency responders could not get from one side of town to the other in emergency situations when a train was passing through."

Full statement provided by Rep. Ross
Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D - Md.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $187,000

View this earmark on a map

Ruppersberger helped obtain $187,000 in 2008 toward a beach replenishment survey of the Ocean City shoreline. He and his wife own two condominium units there. He said the beach is critical to tourism. "That's a stretch to say that thing's going to benefit me," he said.
Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D - Ill.)
Get link

Spending with family connections: $290,663

Rush directed $290,663 to Beloved Community Family Services in 2008, a nonprofit group he founded in Chicago. His wife serves on the board but does not draw a salary. "His wife, Carolyn, is a volunteer board member of this not-for-profit organization that helps at-risk children in one of the poorest, most needy, underserved, neglected urban communities in America," a Rush spokeswoman said. "There are no ethical issues or conflicts of interest, only an honest attempt to serve those who are most in need."
Rep. Linda T. Sánchez (D - Calif.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $475,000

View this earmark on a map

In 2009, Sánchez secured $475,000 to improve seven traffic signals. One was within a mile of her Lakewood home and three were within a half-mile of her district office. "The city of Lakewood requested these earmarks. They were the city of Lakewood's priorities because the signals were old and deteriorating," a Sánchez spokesman said. "The requests were made to go towards safety improvements that the city asked her to pursue."
Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R - Ala.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $114,000

View this earmark on a map

Shelby has earmarked more than $100 million toward rebuilding downtown Tuscaloosa, Ala., where he owns an office building. The street in front of the building will be redone as part of phase two of the project. Shelby said there is no conflict between his property and the revitalization project. "I have nothing to hide. I make no money out of it," he said.

Full statement provided by Sen. Shelby
Rep. Lamar Smith (R - Tex.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $950,000

View this earmark on a map

In 2009, Smith helped secure $950,000 toward road improvements near the San Antonio Fort Sam Houston military base. The earmark will improve three traffic-clogged local intersections near the base, including one a few blocks from Smith's home. "It is absurd to suggest that the location of my home had anything to do with my supporting the City of San Antonio's top priority request to improve access to Fort Sam Houston for our military members, veterans and their families," Smith said.

Full statement provided by Rep. Smith
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D - Miss.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $900,000

View this earmark on a map

Thompson helped secure $900,000 that was used in 2010 to resurface about two dozen roads in Hinds County, Miss. One of those was a quarter-mile residential loop in Bolton, where Thompson owns a home, as does his daughter. "I didn't say, "Do the street that I live on," Thompson said. "The earmark went to the county. It had no designation on it whatsoever, and that was it." He said he secured paving earmarks for other counties as well.
Rep. John F. Tierney (D - Mass.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $3.5 million

View this earmark on a map

Since 2005, Tierney has helped secure about $3.5 million toward a 950-space parking garage and commuter rail station in Salem, Mass. The facility will be about a quarter-mile from a commercial building the congressman co-owns. Tierney's spokeswoman said state and local officials sought the project because the station is one of the busiest in the state. "To imply that this parking is not needed and would increase the value of a small office building that is, roundtrip, 14 football fields away, would be a serious disservice to the residents of Salem," she said.

Full statement provided by Rep. Tierney
Sen. Roger Wicker (R - Miss.)
Get link

Earmark near personal property: $1.5 million

View this earmark on a map

While a member of the House in 2003, Wicker helped secure $1.5 million to study the relocation of railroad tracks at an intersection in downtown Tupelo, Miss. Wicker's home is less than a half-mile northwest of the intersection. Wicker said in a statement: "City leaders requested the funding to begin to address the traffic congestion caused by a major railway switch that is located near a major street intersection. I requested funds for a similar rail study for Greenville and several highway studies throughout the state."

Full statement provided by Sen. Wicker

Spending with family connections: $45 million

As a congressman and then a senator, Wicker has helped secure more than $45 million for the University of Mississippi since 2008. His wife has been employed there since 2006 as coordinator of student services at the Tupelo campus. Wicker said in a statement: "I have supported funding for sensible studies at each of Mississippi's four research institutions, Ole Miss, Mississippi State University, Southern Miss, and Jackson State. These projects have led to improvements in health care, education, and other critical areas."
Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R - Fla.)
Get link

Spending with family connections: $73.2 million

Over a decade, Young helped secure $73 million for companies that employed his sons, according to the St. Petersburg Times. One worked as a security administrator in the St. Petersburg office of Science Applications International Corp., a defense contractor; the other as an outreach specialist for the National Forensic Science Technology Center. Young's spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.Young told the Times in a 2008 story that the earmarks were based on merit, not because the programs employed his sons.

↑ Back to top

SOURCE: Property records, annual financial disclosure forms, OMB and Taxpayers for Common Sense earmark databases, Google Maps.
LAWMAKER PHOTOS: CQ-Roll Call, Inc.
GRAPHIC: Wilson Andrews, David Fallis, Scott Higham, Laris Karklis, Kimberly Kindy, Bobbye Pratt and Karen Yourish - The Washington Post. Published Feb. 6, 2012.


Capitol Assets: Public projects, private interests