Return of Federal Earmarks Aids Some TBED Efforts

Fans of sound public policy may have celebrated last year’s complete elimination of congressional earmarks on the FY 2007 budget. With the rapid growth over the past decade in the percent of discretionary federal spending arriving with strings attached, the idea there would be no more multi-million-dollar bridges to nowhere, indoor rainforests on the great plains and other gems seemed too good to be true. And it was, apparently, as draft FY08 budget bills surfacing in both chambers reveal.

 

The plus side of earmarks, besides keeping a small army of lobbyists employed, is that sometimes they can provide funds to support research and TBED initiatives. For example, following is an overview of recent federal earmarks from across the nation that were included in the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill. Whether or not the bill actually passes the full Congress before late winter or next spring remains to be seen.

 

Alabama

Sen. Richard Selby (R-AL) announced funding for several projects included in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), the Highway and Transit Reauthorization Bill. The Cummings Research Park Intermodal Center is slated to receive $1.3 million to construct an Intermodal facility in the research park. Additionally, $500,000 is earmarked for University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH) transportation, infrastructure and logistics research. Funds will be used to enhance UAH’s office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Logistics work on assessing and improving transportation logistics in the state.

 

Arkansas

Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Mark Pryor (D-AR) announced a proposed $600,000 appropriation to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff for completion of the business support incubator. Funding will assist the Economic Research and Development Center in completing Phase II of the business support incubator project, a 16,000-square-foot building that houses offices for the Economic Research and Development Center.

 

Kansas

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) announced proposed funding for the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University, including $2 million for advanced materials research and $1 million for small aircraft aging research.

 

Michigan

Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Carl Levin (D-MI) announced a $4 million appropriation for Flint Mass Transportation Authority (MTA) for bus and bus facility enhancements. MTA is partnering with Kettering University and Michigan State University to use hybrid and fuel cell technologies in their bus fleet. Additional earmarks within the Appropriations bill include $1 million for Pinnacle Aeropark, a 1,300-acre mixed-use business development park and $200,000 for renovations at TechTown to redevelop a distressed community and create a training and business technology incubator.

 

North Dakota

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) announced funding for several projects included in the Appropriations bill, including $4.5 million for a precision manufacturing facility to provide specifically fabricated parts to Army units in the U.S. and $3.5 million for Universal Description, Discovery and Integration, a project that will allow Minot’s InfoTech to provide for the first time a single web-based location where the Department of Defense can access military databases around the world, while still protecting sensitive data.



University of North Dakota’s (UND) Center of Excellence for Defense UAV Education is slated to receive $4 million to support research that will help improve the nation’s unmanned aircraft systems. Also included is $2 million for UND’s Energy and Environmental Research Center to develop new types of cleaner, more efficient fuels for the U.S. military. Researchers will work to develop a system to produce hydrogen fuel and an assortment of liquid fuels that are produced from coal and biomass.

 

More than $18 million is included for various technology development projects at North Dakota State University.