Lowey gets earmarks in 2009 budget
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- June
- 25
What’s a few million dollars out of a $39.9 billion budget?
Congresswoman Nita Lowey, D-Harrison, has joined with other members of the House Appropriations Committee and some lawmakers not on the panel in setting aside $180 million for 104 projects in their home districts in the proposed 2009 budget for the Department of Homeland Security.
Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog group, released a database of the 104 projects this afternoon. The largest: $92 million for the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium, $60 million more than President Bush requested.
Lowey joined with Rep. Jose Serrano, D-Bronx, and Rep. Peter King, R-Nassau County, in securing $1 million for the New York State Emergency Management Office for “predisaster mitigation.’’ She also secured – on her own – another $500,000 for Westchester and Rockland counties for the same purpose.
Putnam County would receive $450,000 for “predisaster mitigation’’ but, alas, the legislation would send the money to the state of Florida and not New York’s Putnam County.
According to the taxpayer group, the bill approved Tuesday by the House committee would spend $2.3 billion more than the Bush administration requested for fiscal year 2009 which begins Oct. 1. “The new spending focuses on border security programs – such as $800 million to catching criminal aliens and $12 million to investigate transnational gangs – as well as emergency response grants, including $3.7 billion for First Responder and Port Security programs,’’ TCS states on its Web site.
Lowey issued a press release Tuesday bragging about the benefits of legislation if it is adopted by the House and Senate later this year.
“This legislation will help the New York region prepare, prevent, and respond to future emergencies,” said Lowey. “It provides much-needed funding to local first responders and prioritizes security for our airports, transit systems, ports, and borders.”
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 6:50 pm by Brian Tumulty.
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