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By BILL ADAIR, Times Staff WriterTerm 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.
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."