Hickenlooper wrote an op-ed in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel responding to Rep. Boebert’s assertion that Community Directed Spending was a corrupt process in years she voted against it
Hickenlooper: “it doesn’t make sense to call the last two years’ worth of projects corrupt without telling these communities which of them didn’t deserve the money.”
In case you missed it, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper penned an op-ed in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel responding to Representative Lauren Boebert’s mischaracterization of the Congressionally Directed Spending program, often referred to as “earmarks.” Hickenlooper secured $60 million of funding for projects across Colorado’s Third District in the last two years despite Boebert’s opposition.
“Is funding for a rural clinic in Palisade corrupt? How about an affordable housing project in Rifle? Or a wastewater emergency generator in Craig? Which of these is evidence that Congress is trying to ‘buy votes and waste taxpayer money?’” wrote Hickenlooper in the op-ed.
“The simple truth is that earmarks, Congressionally Directed Spending, or whatever you want to call it, help Colorado get our fair share of federal funding. The funds we requested are our priorities because they are your priorities. We stand behind every single one of them and will keep fighting tooth and nail to make sure Colorado – all of Colorado – gets its fair share every single year. I won’t break the law or my values for this state, but I’ll do damned near everything else to make sure we get the help we need.”
Read more in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel or below:
Which of these projects is corrupt, Rep. Boebert?
by John Hickenlooper, May 18, 2023
Is funding for a rural clinic in Palisade corrupt? How about an affordable housing project in Rifle? Or a wastewater emergency generator in Craig? Which of these is evidence that Congress is trying to “buy votes and waste taxpayer money?”
Representative Lauren Boebert recently announced in this paper that she had reconsidered and now supports Congressionally Directed Spending, or earmarks as they’re sometimes known. She defended this change of heart by saying that she helped “fix” the process by stripping out “corrupt, vote-buying behavior” that supposedly marred the program over the past two years. (That didn’t stop her from taking credit for these projects once they were passed into law without her support.)
Maybe the $1.4 million for the City of Grand Junction to build affordable housing was the problem. Or the $1 million to build the Glenwood Springs South Bridge Project to provide crucial emergency routes and improved access—funding that was apparently only corrupt when someone else requested it, because she submitted the exact same project for consideration this year. Or money to shore up disaster response efforts in Monte Vista, establish a comprehensive medical care program in Pueblo, and develop a new engineering degree program at Adams State University in Alamosa? You get the idea, and these are only a few of the $60 million in projects over two years we were able to fund across Representative Boebert’s district. She steadfastly voted against all of them.
And the changes she championed? They now make funding any projects in the House of Representatives that would shore up rural health, public education, or workforce training, among others, impossible.
Representative Boebert and I agree that there should be safeguards on the program. But those safeguards were put in place two years ago, under Democratic leadership. The updated rules require that every single project I submit is listed on my website for all to see. Every year, I sign a sworn statement certifying that neither I nor my family have any financial or personal stake in the projects. The new process established by Democrats restricts applications to those from nonprofits and local governments. And Congressionally Directed Spending is limited to less than 1 percent of Congress’ annual budget—far from a blank check.
Furthermore, our office has made every effort to expand access to these resources by holding information sessions across the state, publicizing our application information online, and standing by to answer any questions that Coloradans have about how to submit an application.
The simple truth is that earmarks, Congressionally Directed Spending, or whatever you want to call it, help Colorado get our fair share of federal funding. The funds we requested are our priorities because they are your priorities. We stand behind every single one of them and will keep fighting tooth and nail to make sure Colorado – all of Colorado – gets its fair share every single year. I won’t break the law or my values for this state, but I’ll do damned near everything else to make sure we get the help we need. I’m glad Representative Boebert has come around and I look forward to working with her to support all the great work Congress is trying to do for Colorado. But it doesn’t make sense to call the last two years’ worth of projects corrupt without telling these communities which of them didn’t deserve the money.
Here is every project we funded across Colorado’s Third District over the last two years, despite Representative Boebert’s opposition:
###