Earmarks in Federal Budget Reaping Millions for Nonprofits

“People come in and see me and they ask for it,” Norton said Thursday. “I don’t go out and ask, ‘Do you need money?’ Desperate organizations come in, and then we take them all down and we try to see who’s most needy.”

Norton, a Democrat, divvied out less than half of the D.C.-related earmarks. Among the others:

• The National Council of La Raza received $476,000 for its early childhood education center, courtesy of Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Robert Menendez, D-N.J.

• The Washington Jesuit Academy received $238,000 for mentoring, thanks to Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

• George Washington University received $141,000 to provide D.C. Public School students with “opportunities to pursue health profession careers,” thanks to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

Earmarking will continue in future budgets, Norton said, despite calls to end or severely curtail the practice. But there will be “total transparency,” she said, rationed amounts and, perhaps, new rules to strike earmarks that have no public purpose.