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Funny money Lawmakers playing loose with their pork dollars04/25/01 There's so much wrong with lawmakers getting $12 million in "community service grants" from the education budget that it's hard to know exactly where to start criticizing the tradition. What about calling these "community service grants"
to begin with. This is pork, plain and simple, designed to give lawmakers money to spread around back home so they'll
be remembered when they're running for re-election. More galling is that the legislators act as if the money comes
from their own wallets, when it actually comes from taxpayers. The disgusting habit of some lawmakers claiming the money
they pass around as their own is no better underscored by state Sen. Roger Bedford, who gave a $5,000 check from
his taxpayer-supported pork fund to help build a new plaza at the University of Alabama. Bedford made sure he is
listed on a special, separate plaque, just like other big donors. The plaque should more accurately credit state
taxpayers for the contribution. But Bedford, and other lawmakers, don't want the truth to get in the way of their
"philanthropy." Even more dangerous is the system in
which some lawmakers launder the tax dollars they get for pork projects. Bedford and state Rep. Mike Millican,
D-Hamilton, funnel their money to the Marion County school system, one of the poorest systems in the state. But
the Marion schools don't get to touch the more than $200,000 sent by Bedford and Millican. It just sits there until
either Bedford or Millican tell the school system where to send checks. (The University of Alabama got its $5,000
check from Bedford through the Marion County school system.) Two other lawmakers, Sen. Gerald Dial, D-Lineville, and
Rep. Richard Laird, D-Roanoke, sent most of their pork to a nonprofit organization they set up. Then, when they're
ready to reward somebody who has begged long enough, they write checks from the nonprofit group. It's a system ripe for corruption, and one that has gotten
lawmakers into trouble before. A committee in the Legislature is supposed to review each individual "grant,"
but now that many of the dollars go through outside organizations designed to hold the money until a lawmaker calls,
oversight isn't as tight. As long as a recipient has some connection with education, however vague, a lawmaker's
request usually will be approved. Gov. Don Siegelman wants the practice stopped, and even
offered to give up his own "special projects money." Good for Siegelman, though nothing is stopping him
from setting the example by giving up his slush fund on his own. Neither the governor nor lawmakers should have money stashed
away that they can simply give out at will, based on little more than their own personal preference. Many of the
projects funded with these pork dollars are worthy, there's no question; but such appropriations should be part
of the overall budgeting process - debated and justified, like most other spending. An emergency fund, with strict
guidelines and oversight, can be established for unexpected needs. Giving lawmakers many thousands of dollars each to simply
pass around at will is a lousy way to spend taxpayers' money. With the Legislature moving toward more accountability
in budgeting, this corrupt "grants" system threatens to undercut any credibility that effort may have.
It's time to stop giving incumbent lawmakers millions of tax money to launder and spend like it's their own. © The Birmingham News |
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