Senate OK's $820b budget bill; critics decry `pork'

WASHINGTON -- Three days after President Bush urged Congress to rein in spending and promised to halve the federal deficit within five years, the Senate yesterday gave final approval to an $820 billion spending bill that critics say contains a record level of pork-barrel projects.

The legislation is the final piece of the budget for fiscal 2004, which began last October. Lawmakers tussled over some nonspending provisions in the bill, including one that will allow the Bush administration to go ahead with new rules for overtime that could deny extra pay to millions of American workers. But few lawmakers complained publicly about the inclusion of nearly 8,000 local projects totaling what budget watchdog groups say is a record $10.7 billion in pork-barrel spending. Critics say that spending, part of the $328 billion in the bill that is discretionary, or under the control of Congress, is irresponsible at a time when the deficit is approaching a half-trillion dollars.

"I get asked all the time: What is it about Alaska, West Virginia, Hawaii, and Mississippi? All of their economies are in the tank, because they're all on welfare," quipped senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona and a leading critic of pork projects. The four states all have high-ranking members on congressional appropriations committees, which approve funding for such local projects.

"It's disgraceful, and we're going to pay a heavy price," McCain said.

The projects are tucked into different parts of the spending package and are not easily identified. But Taxpayers for Common Sense, a citizens' group, found 7,931 of them after completing an exhaustive search of the lengthy legislation, which was approved 65-28. Keith Ashdown, the group's vice president for policy, said both the number of earmarked projects and the aggregate amount were records.

The projects include $90,000 for the Agricultural Research Service to study olive fruit flies in Montpelier -- the one in France, not in Vermont.

Both Hawaii and Alaska were given funds to celebrate their respective statehoods, although Alaska, with a $450,000 grant, got twice as much as Hawaii. Another $2 million was set aside to market specialty cheeses made in Wisconsin. And in a display of attention to fiscal matters, Congress also funded a program at the University of Akron to simulate the federal budget process. The program, called Exercises in Hard Choices, will get a $500,000 grant.

Some lawmakers defended the spending package on the Senate floor, saying the overall bill included critical funds for cancer awareness, veterans programs, and a plethora of federal agencies. Senator Ted Stevens, Republican of Alaska and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, defended projects earmarked for his state that he said were needed to protect certain local industries, such as fisheries.

Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, voted Wednesday to hold up the bill but voted yesterday to approve it. "Yesterday was a statement. Today was the vote. There are millions of dollars coming into the state of Nebraska. I worked hard to get those things. I'm not going to turn my back," he said.

But others worried that the spending underscored a new era of fiscal recklessness in Washington. Economists say a growing budget deficit could worsen as the baby-boomers begin to retire.

"We've fallen into a habit of short-term decision-making here," said Senator Lincoln Chafee, Republican of Rhode Island. He said he was "not optimistic" that Congress would put a limit on spending.

Massachusetts will get $206.4 million in pork-barrel projects, mainly for educational and transportation programs, according to the Taxpayers for Common Sense analysis. The tally includes $25 million to defray the cost of security for the Democratic National Convention in July; New York City also receives $25 million for similar costs for the Republican convention.

Democrats and a few Republicans are rankled over the removal of language from the spending bill that would have reversed a Bush administration rule eliminating overtime pay for millions of US workers. Both chambers of Congress approved the change, but negotiators in a Republican-controlled conference committee changed the language to suit the White House.

Democratic presidential candidates have made an issue of the labor rules, and congressional Democrats held up the omnibus package this week, hoping to persuade Republican leaders to change the language. Senate Democratic leader Thomas Daschle of South Dakota said he would try to attach the provision to another bill.

Both Democrats and Republicans benefit from the earmarked projects, but since Republicans control Congress and the White House, they will be held accountable for the spending, analysts say.

"It's becoming increasingly difficult for the Republicans to claim to be the fiscal stewards of taxpayer dollars," said Brian Reidl, an economist with the Heritage Foundation. "This is the most pork-laden bill in the history of Congress."