BETHLEHEM, Pa. — While Congress continues to be a legislative quagmire, U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, D-Lehigh Valley, brought home more than $15.8 million in earmarks for the Lehigh Valley in fiscal year 2023.
Fiscal year 2024 started in October, but dysfunction in the U.S. House and wildly differing priorities in Washington have prevented any new appropriations from passing into law.
But that didn't prevent states, colleges, hospitals, non-profits and other organizations from receiving checks this year from line items passed in 2022.
In the Lehigh Valley, groups received $18.9 million in fiscal year 2023 from congressionally directed spending, better known as earmarks. Most of that funding came from Wild while the remaining $3.1 million came from funding secured by U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.
Wild-backed projects included $3 million toward the creation of the Saucon Creek YMCA and $1 million for facility repairs at Gracedale, Northampton County's nursing home to $197,477 toward a Lehigh County suicide response team.
Federal databases credited Casey with bringing $48.7 million in federal funding for all of Pennsylvania. His Lehigh Valley projects included $2 million for public housing in Allentown and $500,000 for restoration work of Bethlehem's Colonial Industrial Quarter.
Earmarks are federal dollars allocated for local projects. The specifics vary from project to project but run the gamut from rehabilitating bridges or sewer systems to funding DNA testing for local law enforcement to assisting food banks. The recipients include state governments, colleges, hospital networks and small non-profits.
The money is doled out by Congress, where a lawmaker's influence can bring outsized results for its state or district. For example, Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Lackawanna/Wayne/Monroe sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. For fiscal year 2023, his Northeast Pa. district received $50.1 million in congressionally directed spending — more than the bottom four states combined.
The biggest award was $16.6 million toward the construction of a workforce development facility at the University of Scranton. That project alone was worth more than what Reps. John Joyce, R-Central Pa. and Chrissy Houlahan, D=Chester/Berks, brought to their districts combined.
"I’m committed to bringing home every penny of our fair share of federal tax dollars to ensure our region is positioned to grow while creating good-paying jobs,” Cartwright, said in a news release announcing the funding.
On the other end of the spectrum are members who don't seek any earmarks, including U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, R-Dauphin/Cumberland/York. Perry, the chair of the right-wing Freedom Caucus has bandied against earmarks as a corruptive influence in national politics. Perry, who represents the Harrisburg area, sought to ban earmarks in November 2022, though the effort failed to gain support among his fellow Republicans.
“America knows that this process is broken here, that it is rife with their money, their hard-earned money being spent on things that have absolutely no reason to be in the federal purview," Perry told Roll Call at the time.
Several Pennsylvania lawmakers appeared to agree with him. Rep. Lloyd Smucker R-Lancaster/York, former Rep. Fred Keller and former Sen. Pat Toomey, all Republicans, did not appear to submit appropriation requests in 2022 for FY 2023.
Earmarks were actually banned in Congress for 11 years before making a return in Congress. Advocates argue they're a way for lawmakers to directly advocate for their districts while opponents contend they drive up federal spending allow for members to trade their votes on a bill for a pet project to get funded.
Wild's haul proved to be just above average for Pennsylvania's congressional delegation. On the whole, the Keystone State received $364.5 million in earmarks, good for 13th in the nation. California topped the list with $1.3 billion while Montana and North Dakota didn't get any, according to the US Government Accountability Office.
It remains to be seen if Congress can actually pass a budget before fiscal year 2024 ends. Several Lehigh Valley entities are hoping for federal funding and will be likely be crossing their fingers that a deal can be worked out at some point. While none of the money Wild has requested is guaranteed, some of the projects she's championed in 2024 include:
- $1 million for the Allentown Police Department for three new vehicles and other equipment
- $3 million for ArtsQuest to revitalize the Bethlehem Steel Turn & Grind Shop into a multi-use venue
- $1.7 million for Weatherly to purchase a 1,140-acre property to preserve water quality in the Black Creek Watershed and form a hiking trail
- $2 million to upgrade the Coaldale-Lansford-Summit Hill Sewer Authority wastewater treatment plant
- $2 million to repair the Glendon Hill Bridge in Easton, which has been closed for over a decade
- $2.9 million to Lehigh University to develop a high-density housing model to address the housing shortage in Bethlehem
- $2.1 million for upgrades to Northampton County's police radio network
- $3.2 million toward the replacement of the Mud Run Bridge on Route 903 in Carbon County
