Changing paradigms

Congressman Jason Chaffetz promised he would not accept a single earmark until there was significant reform. Many worried that their projects would not get funded. Others mocked him because, they said, “that’s just how it’s done”. As you might recall, there were a number of articles and blog posts from various quarters castigating the rookie for being naive at best for thinking he could get funding for worthwhile projects without following the “same old” system of earmarking pet projects.

Today, Chaffetz blew the lid off that theory as he announced an all-new way to fund transportation projects in Utah. According to the Deseret News, he

will not be the one who chooses which road projects will split the $15 million or so of federal money that he could earmark for his district in an upcoming, five-year transportation authorization bill.
Instead, he said Monday that he persuaded the House Transportation Committee to set aside roughly that amount of money for his district but let the Utah Department of Transportation decide how to spend it based on its priority list.

He worked with Utah Reps John Dougall and Becky Lockhart and announced this new funding method via a conference call with all three legislators and media reps. Rep Dougall said the “current process promotes patronage and pork barrel spending. This is a new day in federal transportation funding, promoting local control while leveraging Utah’s
transparent, needs-based, scientifically-driven prioritization process.”

He also noted that he had been hearing excuses for 5 years, and a freshman congressman with barely 100 days under his belt has been able to do what our “powerhouse” senators have been unable to accomplish.

What’s that saying? “Those who say it can’t be done should get out of the way of those who are doing it.”

The winds of change are blowing – in the right direction.