Lawmakers Say Trim Pork for Katrina Relief
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 – The question of how to pay for Hurricane Katrina looms large over Congress. With a record budget deficit-$427 billion-and pressure to cut spending, some lawmakers are doing the unheard of: offering up their own pet transportation projects.
Costs associated with Katrina could soar to $200 billion or more, according to Republican leaders. Congress has already approved $62 billion in hurricane relief and promises more to come.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) said they are willing to give up money earmarked for projects in their states in the highway bill, signed into law in August.
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) said he might consider doing the same, but added: “You’re not going to find the billions you want there. That’s going to come by the president saying we’re not going to eliminate the estate tax; that we’re not going to make permanent the tax cuts of 2001; and by also, of course, looking at some of these other areas like the Iraq war and so forth–we need to reduce those costs.”
Critics have called the highway bill “pork-filled,” referring to the 6,371 state projects tacked on by lawmakers. Some projects are not very controversial. Moving a bridge project and renaming it after yourself for a whopping $231.4 million, as Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) did, is a different story.
“The most egregious ones are obviously the ones that have been widely reported,” Dodd said.
Citizens Against Government Waste, a fiscal watchdog group, called foul on the highway bill. “The highway bill is a fiscal car wreck,” President Tom Schatz said in a press release. “The sweet smell of pork has blinded members of Congress to the waste and inefficiency of federal transportation policy.”
The highway bill will cost $286 billion, with $24 billion for member-designated projects. Connecticut will receive $2.5 billion-a 19 percent jump from the previous highway bill-over the next five years, for such projects as widening I-95 east of New Haven ($7.5 million) and replacing the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge ($10 million).
