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Congress
For his finale, Young slices his pork thick
Term limits force out Rep. C.W. Bill Young as appropriations leader, but he pledges as vice chairman to continue rallying for Tampa Bay area projects.
By BILL ADAIR, Times Staff Writer
Published November 21, 2004
WASHINGTON - In his final act as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. C.W. Bill Young has again opened the federal spigot and showered millions of dollars on the Tampa Bay area.
The $388-billion appropriations bill passed by Congress Saturday includes $180-million in local goodies ranging from a replacement bridge for the Belleair Causeway to a new control tower at Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg.
The bill was one of the most austere in years, trimming many programs. But that did not deter Young. He gave $200,000 to Largo for park renovations, $900,000 to Clearwater for its BeachWalk project and $5-million to St. Petersburg to extend the Pinellas Trail from U.S. 19 to downtown.
The millions will help commuters, bicyclists and water-drinkers. The bill includes $4-million to widen Roosevelt Boulevard in St. Petersburg, $1.1-million for Pinellas County bike trails and $4-million to finish a mammoth regional reservoir in southern Hillsborough County.
Young, R-Largo, also announced $72-million in local defense projects that he had tucked inside bills approved earlier this fall, including $31-million for MacDill Air Force Base to build additional family housing and design a new headquarters for U.S. Central Command.
Young's giveaway has been an annual ritual since he became chairman in 1998. He is leaving the post because of the Republican Party's six-year term limit, but he will remain vice chairman and is likely to head the defense subcommittee.
On the House floor Saturday, leaders from both parties praised him for his bipartisan spirit.
"I'm not going anywhere," Young responded. "I plan to be back with other appropriations bills."
Young wielded his influence through a process known as earmarking, in which Congress specifies where money will be spent. For months, he and other committee members have added language to the spending bills that specify where dollars go.
The Bush administration and budget watchdog groups have criticized earmarking because it reduces the authority of executive branch agencies to determine how money is spent. They say Congress is simply filling bills with political pork.
But Young says he is exercising his constitutional authority. He often carries a small copy of the U.S. Constitution in his shirt pocket and pulls it out to read a sentence that says Congress decides how money is spent.
He is unabashed about getting pork for the Tampa Bay area. "I believe these are very legitimate items that we provide for here. I'd be prepared to argue the merits of any of them."
Despite his long list of local projects each year, Young is rarely criticized by the watchdog groups because he gets less pork than his Senate counterparts.
This year, much of the local money will go to Tampa Bay area colleges for research on bioterrorism and cancer, two of Young's priorities. The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center at the University of South Florida will get $11-million for programs, including one to help patients find clinical trials that might help their treatment.
Young's south Pinellas district will be enriched, but he's also sending millions to the neighboring districts of Democrat Jim Davis and Republican Michael Bilirakis. He also provided tens of millions of dollars for other parts of Florida.
"I try to make sure things that are needed in the whole state of Florida are taken care of," Young said.
Florida's senators and other House members issued press releases Saturday announcing their own projects, but they were small change compared with the more than 100 that Young touted for Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties.
The biggest projects he unveiled Saturday included the $34-million bridge for the Belleair Causeway and a $10-million beach renourishment program for Sand Key. Young said the bridge is urgently needed and would be an important hurricane evacuation route.
"This last hurricane season has proved to us the importance of being able to evacuate our beaches and low-lying areas," he said.
Young's aides also highlighted small projects that they said can have a big impact on a community, including $250,000 for an Urban League center in St. Petersburg, $200,000 for a homeless program in Clearwater and $90,000 for a child nutrition program at Tampa General Hospital.
Other projects include $900,000 for the relocation of the Salvador Dali Museum, $2-million for hydrogen fuel cell research at the University of South Florida and $900,000 for a new community center in Dunedin.
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker praised Young for replacing the Albert Whitted control tower and the $5-million to extend the Pinellas Trail into downtown. That, combined with additional money for bike trails, means "you're going to be able to get on your bicycle anywhere in the city and work your way to the Pinellas Trail."
Baker also praised the projects to boost the city's Midtown area, including $600,000 to renovate Jordan Elementary School, $600,000 for Tangerine Avenue economic development, $300,000 for development around Tropicana Field and $300,000 for a tennis program at Bartlett Park.
"Congressman Young is awesome," Baker said. "It's hard to overstate how much he has done for the whole community."
[Last modified November 20, 2004, 21:59:14]
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| Tampa Bay Area projects in the Omnibus bill approved by Congress Saturday |
| Project |
Amount |
| Belleair Causeway Bridge Replacement |
$34,000,000 |
| Pinellas County beach renourishment - Sand Key |
$10,000,000 |
| Tampa Harbor Alafia Channel widening |
$10,000,000 |
| Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority bus replacement program |
$9,300,000 |
| Tampa Harbor Big Bend channel widening |
$7,500,000 |
| St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport Runway Extension |
$6,000,000 |
| All Children's Hospital construction, new research facility St. Pete |
$5,600,000 |
| Bay Pines Veterans Medical Center, new inspector general office |
$5,000,000 |
| Pinellas County Trail - buying CSX right of way in St. Petersburg |
$5,000,000 |
| 40th Street road improvement project, Tampa |
$4,250,000 |
| Tampa Bay Reservoir completion, Hillsborough County |
$4,000,000 |
| Roosevelt/Ulmerton widening, St. Petersburg and Pinellas |
$4,000,000 |
| Pinellas County Emergency Communications Wireless Test Bed Project |
$4,000,000 |
| Operation PAR, construction of drug rehabilitation facility in Pasco County |
$3,000,000 |
| National Clearinghouse for Science and the Law at Stetson University College of Law, St. Petersburg |
$3,000,000 |
| Pinellas County traffic monitoring program |
$3,000,000 |
| Clearwater sidewalk and curb improvements |
$3,000,000 |
| Enterprise Village - elementary school program with Junior Achievement, Inc. |
$2,500,000 |
| Albert Whitted Airport control tower, St. Petersburg |
$2,200,000 |
| St. Anthony's Hospital oncology equipment/renovation, St. Pete |
$2,000,000 |
| Operation PAR, Child and Family Guidance Center construction, Pinellas Park |
$2,000,000 |
| Center for Biological Defense/ Construction, University of South Florida |
$2,000,000 |
| Moffitt Cancer Center information sharing project |
$2,000,000 |
| Pinellas STAR Center - National Forensic ScienceTechnology Center for criminal lab training and validation |
$2,000,000 |
| USF hydrogen fuel cell research |
$2,000,000 |
| STAR Center program on radiation detection, Largo |
$2,000,000 |
| US Geological Survey St. Petersburg science program |
$1,600,000 |
| Eckerd Youth Alternatives, Transition to Independence Foster Care Demonstration, Clearwater |
$1,500,000 |
| Drug Free America, St. Petersburg-based drug education program |
$1,500,000 |
| Dental, Orthotics and Prosthetics Program Buildings, St. Petersburg College |
$1,485,420 |
| Reclaimed water project, Southwest Florida Water Management District |
$1,425,000 |
| Sediment removal from canals, downtown Tampa |
$1,300,000 |
| STAR Center capital improvements |
$1,200,000 |
| Baycare Hospitals computerized records initiative, Pinellas County |
$1,000,000 |
| Preparing for and Aging Society: Pilot Project of the Florida University System, University of South Florida |
$1,000,000 |
| Pinellas STAR Center program to link businesses and employees |
$1,000,000 |
| Eckerd College campus technology upgrades |
$1,000,000 |
| Graduate Program in Orthotics and Prosthetics by the University of South Florida |
$1,000,000 |
| Pinellas County Environmental Foundation, conservation program |
$1,000,000 |
| Clearwater Beach, Florida Beachwalk project |
$900,000 |
| Salvador Dali museum, St. Petersburg |
$900,000 |
| Dunedin community center |
$900,000 |
| Museum of Fine Arts expansion, St. Petersburg |
$900,000 |
| Coastal environment research, University of South Florida |
$750,000 |
| Substance abuse/mental program, Pinellas County Public Defender |
$750,000 |
| Coastal ocean monitoring and prediction network for West Florida, University of South Florida |
$750,000 |
| Eckerd College Youth Opportunity Center, St. Petersburg, Florida |
$675,000 |
| Florida International Museum, St. Petersburg, educational program with St. Petersburg College |
$650,000 |
| St. Petersburg, Jordan School redevelopment project |
$600,000 |
| St. Petersburg, Tangerine Avenue community redevelopment project |
$600,000 |
| St. Petersburg bike trails |
$600,000 |
| USF, Florida Mental Health Institute treatment program |
$500,000 |
| Eckerd College leadership training program for government agencies |
$500,000 |
| Cancer clinical trials, Moffitt Cancer Center, University of South Florida |
$500,000 |
| Pinellas County Schools, computer training program for academically challenged students |
$500,000 |
| Phoenix House drug rehabilitation center in Hillsborough/Pasco |
$500,000 |
| Clearwater, wastewater and reclaimed water project |
$500,000 |
| Treasure Island wastewater and sewer system upgrade |
$500,000 |
| Largo Police computer project |
$500,000 |
| Pinellas County Sheriff records management system |
$500,000 |
| Marine sensor program, University of South Florida |
$500,000 |
| St. Petersburg intermodal transportation facility |
$500,000 |
| Family Services Center of Clearwater reverse commute program |
$500,000 |
| Clearwater bike trails |
$500,000 |
| Tarpon Springs sidewalk and curb improvements |
$500,000 |
| Egmont Key Shoreline Stabilization |
$500,000 |
| Treasure Island sidewalk and curb improvements |
$450,000 |
| Palm Harbor, downtown revitalization project |
$400,000 |
| Treasure Island, construction of beach walkovers |
$400,000 |
| Catholic Charities Mercy House, residential program for women with AIDS, St. Petersburg |
$380,000 |
| Center for Teaching Transformation at St. Petersburg College, Tarpon Springs Campus |
$350,000 |
| All Children's Hospital Obesity Education Project, St. Pete |
$300,000 |
| St. Petersburg, industrial park development near Tropicana Field |
$300,000 |
| St. Petersburg Bartlett Park improvements |
$300,000 |
| St. Petersburg College Mid-Pinellas Science Center |
$300,000 |
| Eckerd College Science Center (construction) |
$300,000 |
| Project for the Disabled, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg Campus |
$260,000 |
| Jobs Training for Homeless Veterans Pilot Program, St. Vincent de Paul Homeless Shelter, St. Petersburg |
$250,000 |
| University of South Florida research on globalization |
$250,000 |
| Educational demonstration program of the Florida Orchestra, Tampa |
$250,000 |
| North Greenwood afterschool academic program, Clearwater |
$250,000 |
| Urban League community center, St. Petersburg |
$250,000 |
| Tampa Bay History Center, Tampa |
$250,000 |
| Clearwater police department technology upgrades |
$250,000 |
| Pinellas County Sheriff Police Athletic League |
$250,000 |
| Pasco County Sheriff communications system |
$250,000 |
| Largo small business information project |
$250,000 |
| US Geological Survey - St. Petersburg Asian & African dust study |
$250,000 |
| Veterans job training, Worknet Pinellas, Clearwater |
$200,000 |
| Largo Central Park renovations |
$200,000 |
| Clearwater Homeless Intervention Project |
$200,000 |
| Pinellas County Sheriff, sexual predator program |
$200,000 |
| St. Petersburg Harbor project evaluation report |
$200,000 |
| Oldsmar municipal water system |
$150,000 |
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - St. Petersburg Coastal program office |
$150,000 |
| National Armed Services and Law Enforcement Memorial Museum, Dunedin |
$100,000 |
| Tampa General Hospital children's nutrition program |
$90,000 |
| TOTAL |
$179,815,420 |
|
|
| Projects included in bills passed earlier this year |
| Construction of additional family housing units at MacDill AFB |
$22,973,000 |
| National Functional Genomics Center - Moffitt Cancer Center |
$8,500,000 |
| USF Bioterrorism program - Chemical and Biological Defense/Rapid Response |
$8,500,000 |
| Central Command - planning and design of a new headquarters building at MacDill AFB |
$8,000,000 |
| St. Pete College - multi-Jurisdictional Counterdrug Task Force Training |
$3,500,000 |
| St. Pete College - First Responder Training at the National Terrorism Preparedness Institute |
$2,975,000 |
| USF St. Petersburg - Microelectomechanical Systems and Nanotechnology program |
$2,750,000 |
| Special Operations Command - MacDill - Research on Microelectomechanical Systems and Nanotechnology |
$2,600,000 |
| St. Pete College - Florida National Guard Counterdrug Program |
$2,550,000 |
| USF St. Petersburg - Ocean Technology/Autonomous Marine Sensors |
$2,500,000 |
| USF - Continuation of software development for Military and Civilian applications project |
$2,100,000 |
| USF - Biomedical engineering initiative |
$1,500,000 |
| St. Pete College Military Police MCTFT Joint Training |
$1,000,000 |
| USF - National Testbed for Resue Robotics |
$1,000,000 |
| USF - Silicon Carbide research program |
$1,000,000 |
| USF - Center for Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistamce |
$1,000,000 |
| Total |
$72,448,000 |
| Grand Total |
$252,263,420 |
| Source: Office of Rep. C.W. Bill Young |
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