The budget situation our nation faces is urgent. Congress recently approved a trillion dollar healthcare bill. Last year, the Majority passed a $789 billion stimulus bill on top of the $700 billion bailout of the banking industry. Despite my opposition to these measures, the Majority has maxed out our nation’s credit card. I was outvoted, and now the money is gone.
The climate for Congressionally directed appropriations continues to change. President Obama has outlined a new process for appropriations project requests. The House Leadership has also instituted new rules, and I expect new rules to come from the Senate Appropriations Committee any day. Unprecedented and unbridled federal spending is unsustainable and we all have to do what we can for the good of the country. That means cutting back at home too. During the debate on the Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill, I voted to strip out the 8,500 projects in the bill – another $8.5 billion in spending. This included the projects that I had originally requested for Wyoming.
With this in mind, I am implementing a temporary policy for fiscal year 2011 addressing the project requests that have been submitted. During the Fiscal Year 2011 appropriations process, I will only request funding if it is a multi-state program that depends on the support of senators from those states to achieve funding. An example of this is the Tri-State Predator Control Program that helps fund predator control in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. Requests for this program are made by members from Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho and the funding is from a pool in the Department of the Interior. I will also request funding for projects that have been authorized – that means approved by the committees that oversee those programs in addition to the Appropriations Committee – and projects that are priorities of the state. Examples of these include the Job Corps Center that the Department of Labor is building in Riverton and the Carbon Capture and Sequestration Testing Program at the University of Wyoming.
With this in mind, I am implementing a temporary policy for fiscal year 2011 addressing the project requests that have been submitted. During the Fiscal Year 2011 appropriations process, I will only request funding if it is a multi-state program that depends on the support of senators from those states to achieve funding. An example of this is the Tri-State Predator Control Program that helps fund predator control in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. Requests for this program are made by members from Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho and the funding is from a pool in the Department of the Interior. I will also request funding for projects that have been authorized – that means approved by the committees that oversee those programs in addition to the Appropriations Committee – and projects that are priorities of the state. Examples of these include the Job Corps Center that the Department of Labor is building in Riverton and the Carbon Capture and Sequestration Testing Program at the University of Wyoming.
This year, I updated the system used to submit priority projects in order to provide greater transparency to my constituents. I want to ensure that the numerous requests my office receives are considered through the entire legislative process with multiple opportunities for scrutiny and removal by votes and amendments and ultimately constitute a wise use of U.S. taxpayer dollars. Earmarks are requests that are dropped into a legislative bill after committee scrutiny - after the appropriation process starts. I have worked to eliminate earmarks and consequently, the amount of federal funding that I receive via the earmarking process is less than the amount some of my colleagues receive.
Each year, I receive between 45-100 funding requests for federal dollars from Wyoming constituents. There are a range of factors that I use when considering the individual merits of each project. The parameters I use when determining what appropriations projects to pursue each year include, but are not limited to, the following:
· How much is the funding request?
· How many times has the organization submitted the request?
· How does it compare to other projects that I may submit (for example, will it do the same thing for the same people as another project?)?
· How many Wyoming people will it help?
· How likely is it that the request will be granted by the Appropriations Committee, the Senate, and/or full Congress?
· Does the project have private financing and/or local/state government financing?
· Does the project have the support for the appropriation by the federal agency for which it is intended?
EVERY individual or organization requesting a priority project will be required to fill out a document describing the project in detail and submit that document to my office. Should the organization make multiple requests, they must fill out a separate form for each request. If an organization or individual does not submit the attached form to my office, does not complete the form, etc., the request is automatically disqualified from being submitted.
I require that all projects meet a number of thresholds before it will even warrant consideration. Below are the thresholds that will guide the selection process:
EVERY individual or organization requesting a priority project will be required to fill out a document describing the project in detail and submit that document to my office. Should the organization make multiple requests, they must fill out a separate form for each request. If an organization or individual does not submit the attached form to my office, does not complete the form, etc., the request is automatically disqualified from being submitted.
I require that all projects meet a number of thresholds before it will even warrant consideration. Below are the thresholds that will guide the selection process:
· Funding requests must have a specific benefit for the State of Wyoming and for our nation. The benefit must be easily determined.
· All requests must be a proper and wise use of federal taxpayer dollars and must be justified as such. Projects that include a commitment to match federal funds will receive priority consideration.
· None of the funding will be used for a building, program, or project that has been named after me or any member of my family.
· All requests are submitted within the rules of the Senate and within the deadlines of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
All request forms and support letters for the Fiscal Year 2011 appropriations process were due by February 15, 2010. From there, my staff and I collected and organized these requests. Below are the project requests from the office of Senator Michael B. Enzi submitted for Fiscal Year 2010.
Please note: These projects will only be funded if they are included in their designated Fiscal 2011 appropriations bills and those bills are approved by the Senate, House and signed by the President.
If you have questions about the projects or process feel free to contact Senator Enzi through the webrespond option on the senator’s home page or by calling 202-224-3424. Media should email Elly_Pickett@enzi.senate.gov.
All request forms and support letters for the Fiscal Year 2011 appropriations process were due by February 15, 2010. From there, my staff and I collected and organized these requests. Below are the project requests from the office of Senator Michael B. Enzi submitted for Fiscal Year 2010.
Please note: These projects will only be funded if they are included in their designated Fiscal 2011 appropriations bills and those bills are approved by the Senate, House and signed by the President.
If you have questions about the projects or process feel free to contact Senator Enzi through the webrespond option on the senator’s home page or by calling 202-224-3424. Media should email Elly_Pickett@enzi.senate.gov.
| Project | Amount Requested | Purpose | Description | Recipient of Funds | Justification |
| Tri-State Predator Control Program | 2,300,000 | Predator Control in Wyoming Idaho and Montana | Funding will help address predator problems in the Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana by providing additional manpower to USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services | USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana | This funding is to help address predation problems in the three-state area caused by species that have federal protections. In Wyoming alone, losses due to federally protected species cost livestock producers over $3 million annually. The federal government has a responsibility to share in the management of these species, and this program has helped remove nuisance predators that pose a threat to human safety or that have demonstrated repeat predation on livestock. |
| Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Coordinating Committee | 2,250,000 | To facilitate the development and implementation of brucellosis management plans in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana | Funding will help facilitate the development and implementation of brucellosis management plans in the Greater Yellowstone Area | USDA-APHIS in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana | The Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee (GYIBC) is made up of 15 Federal and State agencies. The goal of the GYIBC is to protect and sustain the existing free-ranging elk and bison populations in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) and protect the public interests and economic viability of the livestock industry in the States of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. The GYIBC facilitates the development and implementation of brucellosis management plans for elk and bison and their habitat in the GYA. The ultimate goal is to work to eliminate the transmission of brucellosis. |
| Cooperative Research and Development | $10,000,000 | To continue the development of clean energy technologies | Federal funds will be used to research, develop and transfer to industry technologies that substantially reduce the negative environmental and health effects of fossil fuels to help meet our Nation’s energy needs. | Western Research Institute in Laramie, Wyoming and University of North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center | Funding helps undertake early-stage, high-risk energy research focused on improving the efficiency and cost of fossil energy exploration, recovery, and utilization technologies. Those technologies have the potential to eliminate adverse environmental and health impacts of those fossil energy technologies in sustainable ways. Project research investigates and develops solutions to address climate change and enhances the viability of fossil energy, especially coal, in our nation’s energy mix. A critical element of the projects helps mature such technologies to a state of commercial readiness to enable successful technology transfer to industry and benefit to the nation. The Western Research Institute’s top priority is to develop clean coal technologies. |
| North Platte River Special Resource Management Area | 3,000,000 | To purchase land to promote land access along the North Platte River | Federal Funds will be used to purchase the 380-acre Miles Land and Livestock property from a willing seller within the North Platte River Special Resource Management Area. | Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming | By acquiring this riverfront property from a willing seller, BLM will continue a successful program to conserve river frontage, provide local residents and visitors with over one mile of public access, promote water quality and benefit local small businesses. Full funding of the Bureau of Land Management’s $3,000,000 budget request will enable BLM to acquire the 380-acre Miles Land and Livestock property from a willing seller within the North Platte River Special Resource Management Area. Because most of the land along the Gray Reef stretch is privately-owned, the public currently has very limited access to this land. With a 600 percent increase in public use, Congressional approval of this funding would help meet the growing demand for access and conserve this vitally important fishing resource. As a continuation of the North Platte River acquisition program, this project builds on the successful completion of two projects and will strengthen a partnership with local landowners, fishing organizations, the BLM and the State to leave a lasting conservation legacy to Wyoming and the nation. |
| Technical Correction to an FY 2009 State and Tribal Assistance Grant Project awarded to Lincoln County that needs to be changed to the Kemmerer/Diamondville Water & Wastewater Joint Powers Board | Report Language | To change the name of the grantee for a previous Congressionally Directed Spending award so the intended receipent can access the funds. | Report language will allow the Kemmerer/Diamondville Water & Wastewater Joint Powers Board to access funds that were awarded to them in FY 2009 | Kemmerer/Diamondville Water & Wastewater Joint Powers Board in Kemmerer, Wyoming | In fiscal year 2009, the Interior Appropriations Conference Report awarded $300,000 to Lincoln County, Wyoming for the water treatment plant rehabilitation project. This money should have been awarded to the Kemmerer/Diamondville Water and Wastewater Joint Powers Board in Kemmerer, Wyoming. In order for the Joint Powers Board to access the funding, a technical correction is necessary. |
