Congress brought back spending earmarks. Here’s some of what Kansas got out of them
Congress passed a $1.5 trillion spending bill late Thursday night to fund the government through September. Tucked into the immense package are millions in funding for healthcare, policing and research in Kansas.
Along with $730 billion for domestic spending on things like mental health programs, public education and pandemic preparedness, the bill marked the return of earmarks — where members can request money for specific projects in their districts.
Congress halted the practice for about a decade after corruption scandals sent politicians and lobbyists to prison. Elimination of earmarks became a rallying cry for the anti-big government Tea Party wing of the Republican Party. Congress brought them back as a way of giving lawmakers more of a stake in legislation and allow them to bring home money to their districts.
While critics still call it “pork barrel spending,” Congressional leaders have rebranded earmarks as “congressionally directed spending” and “community project funding.”
Sen. Jerry Moran and Rep. Sharice Davids were the only members of Kansas’ Congressional delegation that requested money for projects in Kansas.
“These resources are best utilized when Kansans at the local level, who know their communities, have a say in how federal dollars are used and spent rather than allowing bureaucrats in the Biden administration to make top-down decisions on spending taxpayer dollars,” Moran said.
Here’s what they were able to get for Kansas.
Police funding
Several of Moran’s earmarks were geared toward upgrading equipment for local police departments, because he serves on the subcommittee on commerce, justice and science.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation got $3 million for updates to their incident based reporting system and the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center got $2 million to train rural law enforcement.
Police departments in Wichita, Olathe, Mission and Overland Park and the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office got a combined $2.5 million to buy license plate recognition and camera technology.
Sheriff’s offices in Ford and Greeley counties and police departments in Atchison and Arkansas City got a combined $420,000 to buy body cameras. The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office secured money for detention monitoring cameras.
Police in Pittsburg, Leavenworth and Hiawatha, along with sheriff’s offices in Cherokee county, got $345,000 to buy less lethal law enforcement technology (pepper balls and tasers). Police in Parsons and Wyandotte County got $300,000 for a use of force simulator.
Education and Healthcare
The University of Kansas Cancer Center will get $1 million to buy an ultra-high resolution imaging station and $5 million for updating research equipment.
Fort Hays State University received $17 million to renovate Forsyth Library and another $1.5 million to support a regional de-escalation training center.
Kansas State University’s Salina campus got $4.7 million to buy and renovate an aerospace simulation center; Wichita State University $3 million for additive manufacturing technologies and standardization; Pittsburg State University $3 million for polymer and plastic research at the National Institute for Materials Advancement; Emporia State University $1.5 million for a cyber security center and the Kansas City Kansas Community College $1.9 million for its automation engineering technology program.
The Amelia Earhart Foundation received $1 million to develop new programs at the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum and Memorial in Atchison.
Infrastructure
The Upper Turkey Creek flood management project got $500,000 to start putting up floodwalls that would help remove Downtown Merriam from the floodplain. Davids had originally asked for $43 million, but Congress only allocated the money for the first phase.
WaterOne got $4.8 million to purchase a backup engine generator for their pumping station and the federal government allocated $4 million for infrastructure maintenance on the Fairfax Jersey Creek Upper Levee.
Green space
The bill will also fund three projects to improve outdoor space in Kansas City, Kansas.
It will help repave and re-stripe 6th Street between Central Avenue and Armstrong Avenue and connect the bike path to the Riverfront Heritage trailhead at Armstrong Avenue & 4th Street.
There are also funds to create a “green corridor” in the Sumner neighborhood and money for a 10-foot-wide trail in Klamm Park in Wyandotte County.
This story was originally published March 11, 2022 at 5:37 PM.