MinnPost

By Ana Radelat

WASHINGTON — Minnesota’s congressional delegation is seeking millions of dollars in special funding for local projects despite growing doubt they will survive.  

Those projects, known as earmarks, are supported by both Democrats and Republicans, even among the toughest GOP budget cutters. 

Sen. Amy Klobuchar has submitted 290 requests for funding for a wide array of road and water and sewer projects, police and fire stations and other local projects. MinnPost data reporter Shadi Bushra determined the Democratic senator’s requested projects would cost a total of nearly $890 million.

They include more than $3.9 million for the expansion and renovation of a YMCA in Alexandria: $3 million for a fire hall in Spring Grove; $6 million for a new police station in Le Sueur, and $7 million for a new building at St. Paul’s Como Park Zoo.

Klobuchar also asked for $73 million for a new lock and dam system in Richmond Township that would be constructed by the U.S. Corps of Engineers; $8 million for the replacement of bridges in Lakeville; $8.6 million to rehabilitate the “iconic” Hennepin Avenue suspension bridge in Minneapolis, and much, much more.

“From upgrading critical infrastructure and improving public safety to investing in childcare, I worked with local leaders across the state to secure this important funding ,” Klobuchar said in an emailed statement. “Once completed, these projects will improve the quality of life for Minnesotans.”

Sen. Tina Smith’s 289 requests include $3 million to improve a sanitary system in Plummer, $6.6 million for a new emergency services center in Paynesville and $17 million for a flood prevention program to prevent flooding of “valuable agricultural land” in Marshall County.

Smith also requested $25 million for a new well and expansion of a wastewater treatment pond in Dennison; $1.9 million to fund a commercial truck driving program at Minnesota State College in Winona and $9 million for a new recycling center in Columbia Heights.

Bushra determined Smith’s earmark requests totaled nearly $958 million.

U.S. House members are also requesting earmarks.

Although the Senate this week worked to push forward appropriations bills which would allow for many of the nearly 14,000 requests submitted in that chamber alone — it’s likely Congress won’t be able to pass all,  and  maybe even any, of the spending bills that fund the federal government.

So, the likelihood of a stopgap funding bill that would not have earmarks but would keep the government running past the end of the federal fiscal year, Sept. 30, is growing. So is the likelihood of a shutdown.

Last year, hundreds of millions of dollars in earmark appeals Minnesota’s federal lawmakers fell victim to Congress’ inability to approve appropriations bills.

Earmarks were banned in 2011, victims of a series of scandals and an anti-spending movement fueled by the Tea Party, which considered such projects wasteful “pork.”

But proponents pushed for their return, arguing that they account for a tiny fraction of the federal budget, help to fund much-needed projects and foster consensus-building and bipartisanship in Congress as lawmakers across the political spectrum work toward common goals.

So, earmarks were resurrected in 2022, in a limited way. Renamed “community funding projects,” lawmakers were required to certify that neither they nor their immediate families have any financial interest in projects they requested and to make their requests public.