Minnesota Defense Companies Receive Senate Approval for “Earmark” Funding During Tough Year
July 20, 2006: Minnesota’s Senators Mark Dayton and Norm Coleman announced that they both helped to secure funding for various defense and defense-related firms in the state. The Senate Appropriations Committee last week passed the fiscal year 2007 (FY 07) Department of Defense (DoD) Appropriations Bill, as well as the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Spending Bills. Minnesota’s share of the bill totals $47.7 million for defense projects, and $35 million for Minnesota military and Veteran projects.
The bills include congressional discretionary spending that is above and beyond spending specifically authorized in the President’s 2007 DoD budget. This “earmark” spending has come under intense scrutiny during the past year, thanks in part to a public scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and increased media and public scrutiny of congressionally-funded projects such as Alaska’s so-called “bridge to nowhere.”
The ethical and legal concerns surrounding earmark funding and the lobbying that goes with it (historically known as “pork barrel politics”) has led to a reduced amount of funding for DoD projects beyond DoD’s requests this year. Minnesota’s $47.7 million share is close to half what it was for the FY 06 DoD spending bill.
“As taxpayers, we should be reassured that this is our democratic system correcting itself after years of burgeoning federal spending, both overall and specifically in the earmark process” said Defense Alliance Director Chip Laingen. “But as someone engaged in making sure that innovative products get to our warriors in the field, I’m concerned that some very worthy projects in Minnesota were not funded.” The spending projects and levels are not final. The Defense Appropriations Bill now moves to conference committee in August, for ultimate approval of the Senate and House bills for DoD earmark spending. DoD’s 2007 budget year then begins October 1, 2006.
Most of the companies approved for earmark spending by the Senate Appropriations Bill are Defense Alliance members, including: $4 million to Lockheed Martin to fund a Common Submarine Radio Rom; $4 million to Pemstar to further develop the Land Warrior program; $3 million to Victory Systems to develop an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system; $2.9 million to Third Wave Systems’ Advanced Modeling Technology; $1.9 million to Primordial for development of offroad navigation software; $2.4 million to Speechgear to develop an English-Arabic instant translation system; and $1 million to Phygen, for a plasma sterilizer to allow for cold sterilization of medical instruments.
The Defense Alliance is an independent organization whose mission is to network and expand Minnesota ’s defense and homeland security industries, to create and retain high quality jobs, and to further promote the state’s important contributions to our men and women of the armed forces. Information on ongoing issues and future events can be found at the Alliance website, www.defensealliance.com. |
