Markey bill would use unspent earmarks

Hundreds of millions of dollars in unspent transportation earmarks would be returned to the federal treasury under a bill introduced Wednesday by Rep. Betsy Markey.

The unexpended earmarks in some cases go back more than two decades and range in amounts from 2 cents to $26.8 million. Earmarks are specific directives from Congress on how an appropriation should be spent.

Markey's office included a list of projects totaling $713.2 million that could be affected by the bill. If all that money was returned to the treasury, it would reduce the debt by about 0.005 percent.  - More -