The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today passed its version of a transportation reauthorization bill, to replace the existing law (SAFETEA-LU), which expired more than two years ago. We'll be churning out a few random observations from the bill, starting with this one…

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the bill's author, proudly declares the legislation is earmark-free. And that is true, as evidenced by the “Projects of National and Regional Significance” program, among others. But what is also true is that the ghosts of earmarks past haunt the legislation.

The “Projects of National and Regional Significance” program receives $1 billion in the Senate bill. This program was also in the last transportation bill (SAFETEA-LU) and received approximately $1.8 billion, which was entirely earmarked by Congress. Fourteen states received earmarks; two states (California and Illinois) together received nearly half of the total ($840M). At the behest of then-Chairman of Ways and Means Bill Thomas (R-CA), Bakersfield received a $140 million earmark in this section, part of Thomas' $630 million earmark haul.

A similar brouhaha arose regarding distribution of several earmarked funds during debate over the HIRE Act in 2010 (which, among other things, extended the transportation program). At the time, the House wanted to distribute the funds in the earmarked accounts (Projects of National and Regional Significance and National Corridors, among others) via a competitive process. The Senate got its way, however, and the funds continued to be distributed in the same proportion they had been under the 2005 SAFETEA-LU bill. It is no surprise that the states which do well under this arrangement (CA, IL, LA, WA) are represented by Senators with particular leadership clout.