Under the federal appropriations process a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, or Senator can request a spending provision included in legislation that provides, authorizes, or recommends a specific amount of discretionary budget authority, credit authority, or other spending authority to a local project sponsor to fund a specific project located in a specific state, locality, or congressional district.

Earmarks are granted to local project sponsors authorized to receive federal funds. This generally includes schools, non-profits, local units of government, etc. The project requested must be for an activity that has a public or Congressional district benefit and is authorized under federal law.

Requests are submitted by Congressman Dingell’s office to the relevant Appropriations Subcommittees. The Subcommittees then review all submitted projects for eligibility and recommend funding levels. Following this review, each Subcommittee develops a list of proposed projects to receive funding.

Funding for projects that are approved by the House Appropriations Committee will not be determined until appropriation bills are passed by both bodies of Congress and signed into law by the President. It is possible that these projects will be subject to potential rescission requests by the Executive Branch.

 

FY11 Appropriations Requests (.xls)