Ray LaHood

LaHood Backs Feingold’s Plan to Cancel Unspent Transport Earmarks

When a member of Congress earmarks transportation money for a local project, the funding isn't always spent in a timely manner. The Bush administration's final budget proposed to cancel road earmarks that had sat largely unspent for 10 years, a move that would have freed up $626 million, according to Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI).

By Elana Schor

2:18 PM EST on February 26, 2010

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When a member of Congress earmarks transportation money for a local project, the funding isn’t always spent in a timely manner. The Bush administration’s final budget proposed to cancel road earmarks that had sat largely unspent for 10 years, a move that would have freed up $626 million, according to Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI).

A longtime critic of congressional earmarking, Feingold has proposed legislation that would take back earmarked money at all federal agencies that remained unobligated after a decade. During a Wednesday Senate Budget Committee hearing, Feingold asked Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood if the Obama administration would support the portion of his plan that affects infrastructure.

LaHood gave a hearty affirmative (viewable in the above video), telling Feingold that the U.S. DOT had begun identifying earmarks that were ripe for cancellation due to lack of use.

Elana Schor

Ray LaHood | Streetsblog Capitol Hill | Transportation Policy | U.S. Senate

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