Louisiana Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter have requested a combined $4.9 billion in federal earmarks for Louisiana projects for the fiscal year 2010. Landrieu’s list totals $3.8 billion; Vitter’s $1.1 billion. Last year, the nonprofit Taxpayers for Common Sense , which is opposed to earmark sending, ranked Vitter fifth and Landrieu third among senators in inserting earmarks. Louisiana ranked eighth among states receiving the most earmark funds. Here’s a list of the FY 2010 projects requested by Vitter and Landrieu for Lafayette Parish.
Vitter earmarks:
-$400,000 to Lafayette Consolidated Government for a mobile data terminal and mobile radio replacements
-$2,500,000 to Lafayette Consolidated Government for drinking water distribution line relocations and sanitary sewerage collection system relocations and upgrades
-$1,400,000 to C&C Technologies to develop sensor enhancements for the Navy’s semi-submersive UUV
-$2,000,000 to the Lafayette Airport Commission for infrastructure construction
-$1,500,000 to Dr. Robert Stewart (UL-Lafayette VP of Research) to study ways carbon-rich waste streams can be used to support the growing renewable fuels and chemicals industry within the U.S.
Landrieu earmarks:
-$15,660,000 to Lafayette Consolidated Government for relocating drinking water distribution lines and sewerage collection systems in advance of the state’s Verot school road widening project.
-Landrieu also has several earmark requests (totaling more than $90 million) for multi-parish projects related to water management and maintenance in the Atchafalaya Basin