Young's bay area largesse sizzles
The Indian Shores lawmaker funnels more than $240-million to the area while drawing no fire from watchdogs.
By BILL ADAIR
Published December 23, 2005
WASHINGTON - Rep. C.W. Bill Young stepped down from the chairmanship of the House Appropriations Committee a year ago, but he still managed to shovel more than $240-million in political pork to the Tampa Bay area, plus $80-million elsewhere in the state.
The spending bills approved by Congress in the past few months funneled federal money to local projects such as beach walkways in Treasure Island, library improvements in Palm Harbor and three Army Reserve helicopters for St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.
Young, an Indian Shores Republican, earmarked $500,000 for the Eckerd College science center, $100,000 for a waterfront park at Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg and $344,000 for research into the interaction of medications and grapefruit juice.
Outside the bay area, Young provided $20-million for a Camp Blanding program to help the Florida National Guard respond to emergencies, $750,000 for the state's police athletic leagues and $2.1-million to help the state's universities prepare for hurricanes.
"I think we did very well this year," said Young, a member of Congress since 1970. "I think you'll find that all of these will have a very positive effect on our community."
Young headed the powerful Appropriations Committee for six years but had to step down in December 2004 because of a Republican term limit. He became chairman of the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee.
Despite his lesser role, Young persuaded his colleagues to include plenty of earmarks for the bay area. Young said that he had good relationships with other members on the committee and that they recognized his projects deserved federal funding.
"I appointed most of the subcommittee chairmen to their positions," he said. "We have a very strong mutual respect, and we have worked together for so long. They know I'm not going to bring anything to the markup that can't be justified."
Young said he would have included even more local projects if Congress had not removed all members' earmarks from a spending bill for labor and health and human services.
The $240-million includes $78-million for two big projects at MacDill Air Force Base, a joint intelligence center and security building, which Young announced a few months ago.
It's difficult to compare his largesse from year to year because a few big ticket items such as a reservoir or a bridge can inflate the total.
Last year, Young had more than $180-million in earmarks, including a replacement bridge for the Belleair Beach Causeway and a new control tower at Albert Whitted Airport. The previous year, he had about $190-million in local projects, including a new $50-million bridge to Treasure Island.
Others in Congress such as Sens. Ted Stevens of Alaska and Robert Byrd of West Virginia are legendary for bringing home the bacon. But watchdog groups criticize them for spending too much on unnecessary projects.
Those same watchdog groups have rarely criticized Young.
Keith Ashdown, vice president for policy for Taxpayers for Common Sense, said he is unhappy that the bill from Young's committee has too many local projects overall. But Young's own projects don't seem excessive, he said. "I've always felt C.W. Bill Young uses his power over the nation's purse strings responsibly," Ashdown said.
Some of the money goes to projects Young supports every year, such as bioterrorism research and beach renourishment. Others are new, such as research into better runways and robotics.
Young said he has no qualms about sending money to the Tampa Bay area, even though Congress is under pressure to reduce earmarks.
"We take them one at a time," he said. "We take them based on their merit."
Young said Florida trailed other states for political projects until he became chairman of the committee.
"For a long time, I don't think Florida really got proper recognition," he said.
"One thing I'm really proud of is how we have brought the Florida university system to the top of the list, in getting recognized by the Congress for the important research the universities do."
LOCAL PROJECTSHere are some of the local projects included in this year's congressional spending bills. A complete list can be found on the Times blog "Tales from D.C.," at http://www.sptimes.com/blogs/dc/
Clearwater: Three HH-60L Black Hawk helicopters for Army Reserve $75,000,000
Dunedin: Community center improvements $500,000
Gulfport: Rehab of Scout Hall $200,000
Palm Harbor: Public library $250,000
Pinellas County tourism: Renourishment of Pinellas beaches $1,500,000
Pinellas County: St. Joe's Creek Greenway Park $250,000
Pinellas Park: Park Boulevard drainage improvements $4,500,000
Pinellas Park: Expanded prod. of military thermal batteries, ENSER$2,550,000
Pinellas Park: Advanced battery research, ENSER$2,600,000
St. Petersburg: Albert Whitted waterfront park $100,000
St. Petersburg: Tangerine Avenue redevelopment initiative $150,000
St. Pete Beach: Community center renovations $250,000
Tampa: Aircraft Materials Research at USF $1,000,000
Tampa: I-4 Crosstown Connector $850,000
Treasure Island: Beach walkovers $125,000
Agriculture: Grapefruit juice/drug interaction research (universities) $344,000
Source: Office of Rep. C.W. Bill Young