Transportation pork is always on the griddle for hungry appropriators flush with cash.  The fiscal 2001 transportation spending bill (H.R. 4475) brings taxpayers some truly outlandish pork on wheels.  Here are just a few morsels in this $15.8 billion bill:

• National Center for Asphalt Technology:  $2.5 million added by the Senate for 6 transportation projects in the home state of Senate Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), including $4 million for the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge’s Skilak Loop Road.
• New Haven, Conn. Trolley Cars:  Although not included in the President’s budget, the House added $500,000 for trolley cars in the district (and home town) of House Appropriator Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.).
• Native Vegetation Center:  $300,000 added by the Senate for the Native Vegetation Center at the University of Northern Iowa, located in the home state of Senate Appropriator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).
• Center of Excellence at the West Virginia Constricted Facility Center:  $2 million added by the Senate in the state of porkmeister par excellence and Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.).
• National Welfare to Work Center:  A worthy goal, but not exactly a transportation issue.  This $1 million earmark is going to the University of Illinois – the alma mater of House Appropriator Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Ill.).
• Montana Transportation Pork:  Montana’s favorite purveyor of pork, Senate Appropriator Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), will be walking away with at least $14.9 million in transportation earmarks in fiscal 2000 – including $400,000 for Geosynthetic material research at Montana State University, the senator’s alma mater.
• TransCenter, White Plains, N.Y.:  A $2 million earmark for the TransCenter transportation center in the district of House Appropriator Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.).
• Potomac River Ferry, Va.:  A $500,000 earmark for a Potomac River car ferry in the district of House Transportation Appropriations Chairman Frank Wolf (R-Va.).
• Savannah, Ga. Water Taxi:  Although not included in the President’s budget request, the House added $1 million for a water taxi in the district of House Appropriator Jack Kingston (R-Ga.).  This is twice the amount Rep. Kingston was able to purloin for the project last year.
• Seattle, Wash. Water Taxi:  With the help of a few friends on the House Appropriations Committee, Seattle was able to sail away with $750,000 in pork for a local water taxi – up from $250,000 earmarked by the Senate last year.
• Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area:  This $4 million earmark is a gift from Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking member Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.).  Delaware Water Gap has a long history of being a reservoir for pork – in 1997, the National Park Service spent $784,000 for an outhouse on the Pennsylvania side of the Gap.

(A list of 181 pork-barrel projects in the Transportation bill is available at www.cagw.org.)