Most rookie House lawmakers play hard for 'earmarks'

WASHINGTON -- From beaches to ball fields, freshmen members of Congress are requesting about $11 billion this year to pay for pet projects in their districts, even though some made an issue of the spending in campaigns last year.

Forty-two of 54 freshmen House members requested money for the projects, known as "earmarks." The requests, which will be considered as part of broader spending bills Congress will take up this year, were required to be posted on lawmakers' Internet sites for the first time.

"The erroneous but common wisdom in Washington is that you need to play the earmark game," said Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense. "To get along, everybody goes along, and so everyone gets co-opted into this process."

Many earmarks direct money to uncontroversial projects such as road or sewer work, but a long-standing debate over the practice erupted again in March as Congress approved a budget that included billions in lawmaker-directed spending. President Obama said federal agencies will review individual projects.

Freshmen requesting earmarks so far include 31 of 33 Democrats and 11 of 21 Republicans.

This year, first-term Rep. Harry Teague, D-N.M., whose campaign website pledged he would vote "against excess, unnecessary pork-barrel spending," requested $160 million in projects. The 35-page list of requests includes $1.5 million to build up to four baseball fields in Las Cruces, N.M.

A spokeswoman for Teague, Sara Schreiber, did not respond to requests for information about the projects. Mark Johnston, parks administrator for Las Cruces, said the fields are used for thousands of games each year, that the city's maintenance budget is stretched, and that the fields are an important quality-of-life issue for city residents and employers.

"I accept funding requests for projects that would benefit my constituents," Teague said in a note that accompanied his requests.

Freshman Rep. Thomas Rooney, R-Fla., who aired a campaign ad last year saying "special interests use earmarks to pick our pockets," put in for $144 million in projects to benefit his district, including $5 million for beach restoration in St. Lucie County.