Methods of Federal Funding > Earmarks > Definition of an Earmark
Definition of an Earmark
Generally speaking, the term “earmark” refers to language in legislation that directs federal funding or tax benefits to a specific project, location, or institution.
President Bush signed an executive order in January 2008 that defined earmarks, in the context of the executive order, as any
"funds provided by Congress for projects, programs, or grants where the purported congressional direction (whether in statutory text, report language, or other communication) circumvents otherwise applicable merit-based or competitive allocation processes, or specifies the location or recipient, or otherwise curtails the ability of the executive branch to manage its statutory and constitutional responsibilities pertaining to the funds allocation process."
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In S. 1, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (P.L.110-81), which was passed into law by the current Congress, the term “congressionally directed spending” was defined as “a provision or report language included primarily at the request of a Senator providing, authorizing, or recommending a specific amount of discretionary budget authority, credit authority, or other spending authority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other expenditure with or to an entity, or targeted to a specific State, locality or Congressional district, other than through a statutory or administrative formula-driven or competitive award process.”
The House of Representatives included a definition of an “earmark” in the Rules it adopted at the beginning of the 110th Congress. The House definition is as follows:
a provision or report language included primarily at the request of a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, or Senator providing, authorizing or recommending a specific amount of discretionary budget authority, credit authority, or other spending authority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other expenditure with or to an entity, or targeted to a specific State, locality or Congressional district, other than through a statutory or administrative formula driven or competitive award process.
Typical earmarks that go to localities are:
- Department of Transportation dollars for roadway widening, extension, and rehabilitation, and funding to expand public transit services;
- Department of Housing and Urban Development funding for bricks-and-mortar community facility construction projects;
- Department of Justice funding for community crime prevention activities and to improve technologies for local law enforcement agencies; and
- Environmental Protection Agency and Corps of Engineers funding for drinking water, wastewater, and storm water infrastructure.
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