Pork Alert: House Labor/HHS/Education

Washington, D.C. – Citizens Against Government Waste today released its preliminary analysis of the House version of the fiscal year (FY) 2011 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor/HHS/Education) Appropriations Act.  The bill contains 553 projects costing $424 million.  This represents a 51.1 percent decrease in the number of projects and an 18.6 percent increase in cost from the FY 2010 version, which contained 1,130 projects totaling $357.4 million. 

Some of the egregious earmarks in the bill include:

• $5,000,000 by House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wisc.) for a Family Health Center (a federally funded community health organization) in Marshfield, Wisconsin.  The town has a population of 18,800 and is located near several other health care facilities.

• $3,850,000 for eight projects by Reps. Henry Brown (R-S.C.), Joseph Cao (R-La.), Ron Paul (R-Texas), and Don Young (R-Alaska).  The representatives are the only four Republicans to violate the House Republican ban on earmarks.

• $2,000,000 by Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.) for the Center on Congress at Indiana University. The center aims to improve the public’s understanding of Congress, including “public perceptions of Congress, the role of Congress…and the impact of Congress on people’s everyday lives.”  If Rep. Hill had saved the taxpayers $2 million, he might have improved the public’s perception of Congress.

• $900,000 by Reps. Mark Critz (D-Pa.), Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), and Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) for Steamfitters Local 449 in Pittsburgh and United Mine Workers of America to fund apprenticeship and job-training programs.

• $750,000 by Rep. Melvin Watt (D-N.C.) for a Center for Women at Bennett College, which is attended only by women.  The school has 689 students and boasts an endowment of more than $11 million.

• $350,000 by Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.) for a financial literacy program at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.  The university has an endowment of more than $600 million.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.

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