The Swine Line

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), one of two February Porkers of the Month, tries to make amends for his wasteful ways by eschewing earmarks. 

Nunes vows to shun earmarks

…Putting no money where his mouth is, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, told visiting Tulare County officials on Thursday that he would only request federal funding for projects Congress has authorized.

Unauthorized projects will be left to fend for themselves.

“Until this process is reformed, it’s not worth participating in,” Nunes said of the annual exercise in requesting spending earmarks.
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Nunes maintains the Valley will fare better overall if money is distributed by merit rather than by congressional pull. …

Predictably, local California officials are upset the gravy train is coming to an end.  Earmarking has gotten so bad that local governments think they are entitled to these pork projects and have become addicted to this relatively new way of doling out federal spending.

Fresno County officials stand against Nunes’ call to end earmarks

…Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, says he will no longer seek federal earmarked funding for projects that haven’t been previously authorized. He calls this a matter of principle. Some of his constituents call it a mistake.

“We don’t have time to play the political game and stand on principle when we really need the money,” Reedley City Council Member Scott Brockett said Monday.

Brocket is one of 34 Fresno-area representatives making the county’s annual lobbying trek to Capitol Hill this week. These lobbying trips usually follow a standard script, at least some of which could be rewritten by Nunes’ self-imposed earmark moratorium.

“Earmarks are still a way of life, no matter what the other high-level conversations may be,” said Barbara Goodwin, executive director of the Council of Fresno County Governments.
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Earmarks typically refer to specified line items in an overall appropriations bill. In a classic example, Fresno County representatives are asking for $1.5 million in Justice Department funding to support a countywide anti-gang initiative dubbed “Never Give Up.” The money would help pay for intelligence sharing, after-school programs, tattoo removals and other efforts targeting the 209 street and prison gangs identified in Fresno County.
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In some cases, Kerman Mayor Trinidad Rodriguez noted, Fresno County has already pledged its own money through the passage of the Measure C sales-tax measure.

“We need federal support,” said James “Buzz” Burleson, chairman of the Economic Development Corp. Serving Fresno County. “It’s only fair that the federal government participate in that project.”
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The Fresno County sessions in the Cannon House Office Building on Monday became a little discordant, then, when Nunes’ representatives made clear the congressman’s concern over earmarks.

Nunes is alone among San Joaquin Valley House members in shunning unauthorized earmarks.
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Nunes maintains the 11,000-plus earmarks approved by the Democrat-controlled Congress last year were distributed unfairly, and often included unworthy projects. No San Joaquin Valley lawmaker serves on the House Appropriations Committee, whose members get the lion’s share of earmarks. …