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The $2.3 billion earmarked in FY 2019 represents an 11.5 percent reduction from the $2.6 billion in FY 2018. Legislators added 32 earmarks in FY 2019, the same as the previous year.
$1,016,856,000 for 18 earmarks for the Army Corps of Engineers, an 18.4 percent increase in cost from the $859.2 million in FY 2018. President Trump’s FY 2018 Major Savings and Reforms recommended reducing the Corps of Engineers’ budget by $976 million.
Legislators have long treated the Army Corps of Engineers as a prime repository of pork, and it is among the most heavily earmarked areas of the federal budget. Since FY 1996, members of Congress have added 6,948 earmarks for the Corps, costing taxpayers $14.7 billion.
$12,000,000 for the aquatic plant control program, an increase of 9.1 percent from the $11 million earmarked in FY 2018, and the largest amount ever earmarked for this program.
Since FY 1994, there have been 25 earmarks worth a total of $70.1 million for aquatic plant control projects, including three by Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and one each by Sen. Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.).
$7,876,000 for fish passage and fish screens, which is 57.5 percent more than the $5 million earmarked in FY 2018, and the largest amount ever provided for this purpose.
Since FY 2000, members of Congress have added 19 earmarks costing $51.5 million for fish passage and fish screens. Past legislators responsible for adding earmarks for this purpose include Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), then-Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), and then-Reps. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) and Wally Herger (R-Calif.).
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V. Financial Services
The FY 2019 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act witnessed the second-largest percentage increase in cost of earmarks of any appropriations bill this year. The $167.7 million earmarked in FY 2019 represents a 206.6 percent increase from the $54.7 million in FY 2018. The FY 2019 version of the bill contained three earmarks, a 200 percent increase from FY 2018, which only contained one earmark.
$106,484,000 for federal anti-drug activities at the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the most ever for the ONDCP, and an 84.9 percent increase from the $57.6 million earmarked in FY 2017. The FY 2019 earmark is intended for the vaguely defined “other federal drug control programs,” and lacks additional specificity.
Since FY 1996, members of Congress have added 20 earmarks for the ONDCP, costing $433.9 million. Members of Congress who have provided earmarks for the ONDCP include Senate Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), House Appropriations Committee member Harold Rogers (R-Ky.), and Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.).
President Richard Nixon kicked off the War on Drugs on June 18, 1971, declaring drug abuse to be “public enemy number one.” Since then, the U.S. has spent more than $1 trillion on drug interdiction policies, with little to show for it. In fact, the drug problem has grown exponentially, especially with the rise of opioids. In 2017, 70,237 Americans died of drug overdoses, including 47,600 involving opioids.
$55,250,000 for entrepreneurial development programs within the Small Business Administration (SBA).
Once heavily earmarked by members of Congress, the SBA received its first earmark in seven years in FY 2018, when legislators supplied $54,650,000. In FY 2010, members of Congress added 259 earmarks costing $58.9 million, including local business development centers, chambers of commerce, and business incubation centers.
The SBA is also a form of corporate welfare, as it routinely benefits large banks. In 2016, the list of SBA-backed lenders included JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
The RSC’s FY 2020 budget recommended eliminating funding for the SBA’s entrepreneurial development program, saving $2.8 billion over 10 years. Since FY 1995, members of Congress have added 677 earmarks for the SBA, costing $397.4 million
Source-2019 congressional pig book rep[ort, ondcp, sba,