Lloyd Dunkelberger
In a letter to Gov. Rick Scott today, U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney explained that one of the problems in securing money for the repair of the Hebert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee is the U.S. House’s ban on earmarking money in the federal budget.
The issue is simply this: Congress can authorize funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but without earmarks, lawmakers cannot direct the money to specific projects, like the lake’s crumbling dike.
Rooney, an Okeechobee Republican, was responding to a July 12 letter from Scott who asserted the Obama administration was ignoring his request for help with the project.
“The governor is exactly right — the Herbert Hoover Dike is drastically underfunded and the federal government is to blame. Period,” Rooney said. “Congress used to be able to directly influence Corps’ funding for specific projects like the dike and Everglades restoration and give the Corps more money for projects that were underfunded by the president — but now that is considered an earmark.
“Since 2010, the earmark ban has left the fate of Corps projects squarely in the hands of the executive branch.”
To resolve the issue, Rooney is trying to advance House Resolution 813, which would exclude water resources development projects of the Corps from the definition of a congressional earmark.
“Trying to compel the Corps to prioritize projects in my district without earmarks is maddening, and admittedly self-inflicted,” Rooney said. “At the time, we had good intentions of reforming the system and reining in spending, but we can achieve that without ceding our power to the executive branch. House Resolution 813 will take it back.”
