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Anne Meeker

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    Congress

    What you (yes, you!) need to know about congressional earmarks

    Anne Meeker
    Marci Harris
    April 05, 2022
    congressional earmarks
    Douglas Rissing/Getty Images

    Meeker is the director of special initiatives for the Popvox Foundation. Harris is a member of the organization’s board.

    With the passage of the fiscal 2023 omnibus appropriations bill and a wave of congressional press releases touting new spending in lawmakers’ states and districts, it is official: “Earmarks” are back.

    The decades-old practice of members of Congress securing money for local projects has been reformed and reinstated after a 10-year ban. The new system limits recipients of “congressionally directed spending” to nonprofits or government entities and the maximum amount available to less than 1 percent of discretionary spending. New requirements prohibit any connection with lawmakers or their families, prioritize community input, and mandate disclosure and transparency at every step — as recommended by bipartisan organizations, congressional experts and the House Select Committee on Modernization.

    The new program was announced last year as the appropriations process began, giving congressional offices a very short window to share information about the opportunity to apply for funding and set up their systems for receiving inquiries. Despite this, 332 House members and 64 senators submitted requests in the fiscal 2023 cycle, and the vast majority made it into the final bill.

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    Congress

    What Covid has taught Congress about constituent communications

    Anne Meeker
    December 04, 2020
    Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez town hall with constituents

    Despite terrible approval ratings for Congress as a whole, individual lawmakers such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are still seen as a trusted source of information at town hall sessions.

    Drew Angerer/Getty Images

    Meeker is a fellow working on the Connecting to Congress project at Ohio State University's Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability.

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