Austin American-Statesman: Here are the Central Texas projects that will benefit from federal earmarks

WASHINGTON — All politics is local is an adage that has been especially true when it comes to earmarking federal money for local projects, a practice that just made a comeback after a decadelong hiatus, with millions of dollars benefiting Austin and Central Texas.

Among the earmarks for Central Texas in the $1.5 trillion spending law President Biden signed last week:

• $1.5 million toward engineering for planned caps of portions of Interstate 35 through downtown Austin.
• $1 million for completing a segment of the MoKan Trail in the rail right-of-way in East Austin.
• $10 million to upgrade Hero Way/RM 2243 outside of Leander.
• $1 million for a program of “mental health first responders” in Round Rock.

U.S. Reps. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, John Carter, R-Round Rock, and Pete Sessions, R-Waco, secured money for everything from roads to climate change mitigation projects to education programs.

“All of these projects benefit underserved neighborhoods, but they do more,” Doggett told the American-Statesman of his earmarks. Doggett represents a district that stretches from East Austin to San Antonio; he is seeking election in the fall to a new Austin-based district.

“Preliminary engineering on covering I-35 downtown helps reunite East and West with significant recreational and economic benefits for all of Austin. Connecting our cycling trails offer neighbors from across the community new opportunities and responding to the climate crisis addresses the existential challenge to both our city and planet,” Doggett continued.

Doggett secured money for the design and engineering for so-called caps over I-35, after it is widened and sunken through downtown Austin, according to a nearly $5 billion Texas Department of Transportation plan now in the early stages. The caps would create new green space and development.

“I-35 has been a symbol of the East-West divide in Austin,” said Mike Trimble, director of Austin's Corridor Program Office, referring to the historically underserved Black and Hispanic communities east of the highway and wealthier largely white neighborhoods west of the highway. “This money really helps us bring this into a much more robust phase of design work.”

The plan to complete the trail along the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad right-of-way in East Austin is also part of a vision to connect residents to accessible bus and rail facilities and to reduce reliance on automobiles.

Carter, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee whose district encompasses much of Williamson and Bell counties, secured more than $48 million for projects including $10 million for modernizing and widening Hero Way, considered “substandard” by the city of Leander.

Carter also directed $1 million for a “Mobile Outreach Team” of behavioral health experts in Round Rock to support law enforcement during critical mental health episodes.

But earmarks have come with criticism, and most Republicans did not seek earmarks — including U.S. Reps. Chip Roy of Hays County, Roger Williams of Austin, Michael McCaul of Austin, and Michael Cloud of Victoria — and adhered to a GOP-led ban on earmarks imposed in 2011. Then-House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, led the drive to stop earmarks after several questionable projects and charges of self-dealing including a Republican congressman on the appropriations committee who sold earmarks. Former Rep. Duke Cunningham, R-California, was convicted but was later pardoned by President Donald Trump.

U.S. Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also did not seek earmarks, signing a letter last year with other Republicans calling the practice “inherently wasteful” and “prone to serious abuse.”

A Cruz spokesman told the Statesman that the senator was opposed because “the process of doling out earmarks to special interests and political allies to fund pet projects is wasteful and corrupt.”

To make the process more transparent, Congress now requires lawmakers to post their requests, show community support and certify that they or their family do not have a financial interest in a project.

Sessions, who represents a district that includes parts of North Austin and Pflugerville, supported funding for community health centers and secured $9 million for three highway improvement projects in his district as well as $1.7 million for a water reuse program in Waco that will divert treated wastewater for industrial use.

“From funding the Flat Creek Water reuse project in McLennan to expanding rural broadband to widening roads in Hearne, this legislation is a huge victory which will provide improvements to the lives of Central Texans and enhance our communities,” Sessions said.