Perriello earmarks not included in stopgap resolution

U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello’s five pending earmarks for the Charlottesville area — worth a total $6.05 million — appear to be scuttled, at least for now.

The earmarks had been included in various appropriations bills, but Congress failed to pass the spending measures and instead approved a short-term continuing resolution that keeps federal spending at the current level.

“The budget bills which were advancing included many important investments that communities across the 5th District had identified as priorities, but they will not be funded under this resolution,” said Michael Kelly, Perriello’s deputy press secretary. “Rep. Perriello did all he could to move these important projects forward and it’s a shame that they will have to wait until the next Congress to find out if federal investment will come their way.”

Perriello’s earmarks included $500,000 for improvements to the U.S. 29-250 Bypass interchange, $200,000 to upgrade public safety radio communications in Nelson County, $500,000 to extend the runway at the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport and $850,000 for the planned African-American Heritage Cultural Center in Charlottesville’s Jefferson School.

The congressman’s largest earmark for the region would have sent $4 million to the Jefferson Program, a partnership between the University of Virginia and the Battelle Memorial Institute, a nonprofit research firm located in the UVa Research Park. The earmark would have funded an “innovative electronic interface to survey biological warfare capabilities and threats, whether on the battlefield or through terrorism,” according to Perriello’s office.

Perriello, a Democrat who was unseated in November by Republican state Sen. Robert Hurt, voted Tuesday night against the continuing resolution, which ultimately passed the House in a 193-165 vote. The measure averts a government shutdown, but will only fund the federal government’s operations through March 4.

Hurt has repeatedly pledged to seek no earmarks after he takes office Jan. 5, denouncing what he calls the “corrupt and wasteful earmark process.”

“Once in office, Robert will remain committed to reining in out-of-control government spending,” said Hurt’s spokeswoman, Amanda Henneberg. “He is not opposed to funding for necessary and worthy projects in the 5th District, but he believes that any spending must be done through an open and transparent process within the framework of a balanced budget.”

Hurt backed a GOP-led move last month to ban earmarks for the upcoming 112th Congress, in which Republicans will hold the majority in the House. Earmarks — which make up roughly 1 percent of the federal budget but have long been criticized as wasteful pork — are generally inserted into appropriations bills by congressman to fund projects located within their own districts.

Congress’ failure to pass the omnibus spending bill that included Perriello’s earmarks was a disappointment to Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris, but he said the city is hoping Hurt will be receptive to finding some way to secure federal funding for projects such as the African-American Cultural Center and the traffic improvement for the U.S. 29-250 Bypass interchange.

“We’re still hopeful that this incoming congressman will take a hard look at some of these projects that are good investments and of great importance to the community,” Norris said.