Berkley piles up earmark requests

WASHINGTON — Rep. Shelley Berkley was not timid about compiling a wish list of earmarks for Congress to consider this year, including some national ones based outside Nevada.

Berkley, D-Nev., asked the House Appropriations Committee to review her requests for 74 projects totaling $450 million for the fiscal year that begins in October, according to a list posted to her Web site over the weekend.

The lawmaker admitted today that she probably will gain only a fraction of what she requested. Last year, Berkley obtained $49 million in directed spending for Southern Nevada school and transportation projects.

"Asking and getting are two different things," she said.

Still, the Las Vegas lawmaker's bid for earmarks outstripped the other two members of the state's House delegation. Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., requested 27 projects totaling $22.5 million, while Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., requested $99 million for 39 projects.

Berkley's requests can be found here.

Heller's requests can be found here.

Titus' requests can be found here.

Several of Berkley's larger requests were for national education programs. As many as 70 to 80 House members might endorse funding for such programs based on local experiences, according to House records.

Berkley said she endorsed funding for the national programs at the request of educators in Clark County.

The list includes:

— $25 million for Teach for America, a New York-based teacher recruitment program.

— $10 million for Reach Out and Read, a literacy promotion program based in Boston.

— $28 million for Reading is Fundamental, a Washington-based literacy project.

— $30 million for the National Writing Project, based in Berkeley, Calif.

The earmark requests are coming under scrutiny because for the first time House and Senate lawmakers are being required to disclose all the projects they are asking the appropriations committees to single out for special funding.

The disclosure "must include the purpose of the earmark and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds," the guidelines state.

Committee leaders adopted new transparency rules as a response to criticism that spending on earmarks — grants for local interests that bypass the normal reviews and competitions by federal agencies — has grown out of control.