Congressman Sander Levin

Timeline of Earmark Reform Under the Democratic Congress

At the beginning of the 110th Congress, Democrats enacted a 1–year moratorium on earmarks as part of a continuing resolution for FY07. The moratorium was to allow time to construct a more transparent and reformed earmark process.

House Democrats allowed earmarks in the FY08 Appropriations under new rules, including:

• Requiring Members to disclose the earmarks they secure in bills
• Requiring Members to certify that they and their spouses have no personal financial interest in the request
• Prohibiting trading earmarks for votes
• Requiring committees of jurisdiction and conference committees to publish lists of the earmarks contained in the reported bills, unreported bills, manager’s amendments, and conference reports brought to the House Floor; a Member may make a point of order against consideration of any rule that waives this requirement

At the beginning of the 111th Congress, House Democrats passed additional reforms to begin with the FY10 Appropriations, including

• Requiring all Members’ requests for earmarks to also be publicly disclosed on their website with an explanation of why it is an appropriate use of taxpayer money
• Requiring even earlier public disclosure, by requiring all earmark disclosures to be made public the same day that the subcommittee reports the bill
• Reducing earmarks by more than 43 percent below the FY06 level for FY09. For the FY10 bills, earmark funding levels will be reduced to 50 percent below the FY06 level.

In March of 2009, House Democratic Leaders announced even more earmark reforms for the FY10 Appropriations, including:

1. Increased Review by the Executive Branch: After a Member requests an earmark, the appropriate Executive Branch agency has 20 days to review the project to ensure that the earmark is eligible to receive funds and meets goals established in law.
2. Earmarks for For-Profit Companies Subject to Competitive Selection: For any earmark intended to be directed to a for-profit entity, the Executive Branch will be required to ensure that the earmark will be awarded through a competitive bidding process.