April 28, 2024
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Earmarks: Bringing Home the Bacon
Florida lawmakers end-run the federal budgetary process to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on pet projects each year.
Amy Keller | 12/1/2008
Lawmakers funneled earmarks for 2,300 projects worth $2.25 billion to 920 colleges and universities across the country in 2008 — a 25% increase over 2003, according to an analysis by the Chronicle for Higher Education. Florida colleges and universities raked in more than $111.5 million in federal earmark money in the 2008 fiscal year for everything from library upgrades to manufacturing training programs. A sample of projects at various Florida institutions: |
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| School | Earmark | Sponsor | Project | Amount Spent on Federal Lobbying (2007) |
| St. Petersburg College | $2.4 million | Rep. Bill Young (R) | National Terrorism Preparedness Institute |
Less than $10,000 |
| Saint Leo University | $1.2 million | Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R) | Continuing education through distance learning | Less than $10,000 |
| Florida Gulf Coast University | $500,000 | Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) |
Develop and test environmentally safe biocides for bio-defense | $60,000 |
| Miami Dade College | $343,000 | Sen. Mel Martinez (R) | Cuban American Historical Museum | $160,000 |
| New College of Florida | $215,000 | Rep. Vern Buchanan (R) and Sen. Bill Nelson (D) | Funding for a public archaeology laboratory, including purchase of equipment | $35,000* |
| Florida Southern College | $196,000 | Rep. Adam Putnam (R) | Construction of a library to house historic documents of Frank Lloyd Wright | None reported |
| Florida Memorial University | $162,000 | Sen. Bill Nelson (D) | Upgrades to the Nathan W. Collier Library | $35,000 |
| * New College of Florida Research Foundation | ||||
| School | Earmark* |
| University of South Florida at Tampa | $22.9 million |
| University of Miami | 12.2 million |
| University of Florida | 10.9 million |
| St. Petersburg College | 6.2 million |
| Florida State University | 5.4 million |
| Florida International University | 4.8 million |
| University of North Florida | 3.7 million |
| Florida Gulf Coast University | 2.5 million |
| Florida Institute of Technology | 2.4 million |
| Eckerd College | 2.3 million |
| University of Central Florida | 1.8 million |
| New College of Florida | 1.7 million |
| Florida Atlantic University | 1.6 million |
| Florida Community College at Jacksonville | 1.6 million |
| Saint Leo University | 1.2 million |
| Tallahassee Community College | 1.2 million |
| St. Thomas University | 1 million |
| Florida A&M University | 800,000 |
| School | Earmark* |
| Florida Southern College | $800,000 |
| University of West Florida | 800,000 |
| Barry University | 600,000 |
| Jacksonville University | 500,000 |
| Miami Dade College | 500,000 |
| Stetson University | 500,000 |
| Broward College | 300,000 |
| North Florida Community College | 300,000 |
| Palm Beach Community College | 300,000 |
| Polk College | 300,000 |
| Florida Memorial University | 200,000 |
| Bethune-Cookman University | 100,000 |
| Central Florida Community College | 100,000 |
| Edison College | 100,000 |
| Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences | 100,000 |
| Indian River State College | 100,000 |
| Lake City Community College | 100,000 |
| * Does not include shared projects Sources: Chronicle for Higher Education, Senate Office of Public Records |
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Next page: Article on Rep. Bill Young (R), and a chart of his defense-related earmarks.
