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The Department of Transportation is refusing to move forward on an earmark backed by Rep. Paul Kanjorski (Pa.), the rare House Democrat facing a tough reelection this fall.
Transportation (DoT) is blocking funds to build a $5.6 million parking garage to the Kanjorski Center, which was constructed to attract economic development in the city of Nanticoke in Kanjorski’s Eastern Pennsylvania district. Kanjorski’s earmark for the project was included in the 2005 transportation bill.
DoT contends the garage does not meet federal rules intended to spur the use of public transportation. Those rules allow federal funds for parking garages only if they are connected to other public transportation facilities outside a business area with a population of 50,000 or more, or if it serves high-occupancy vehicles (HOVs) and public mass transportation passengers.
The parking garage is not the only Kanjorski earmark the DoT has scrutinized in recent years. The department has taken exception to more than 20 of Kanjorski’s transportation earmarks totaling nearly $7 million. Kanjorski’s staff worked with the DoT to change those earmarks so they now comply with federal rules.
Kanjorski for more than two decades has brought tens of millions of dollars of federal money home to his district. His earmarks have created several different centers and organizations aimed at stimulating the cash-strapped local economy.
But Kanjorski’s family ties to some of the groups that have benefited from his earmarks have stirred criticism and animosity among local Democratic officials.
State Rep. Joe Yudichak, a Democrat and former Kanjorski ally who is now a critic, said he was concerned that the parking garage was ineligible for federal money despite Kanjorski’s claims to the contrary. Now that the DoT has made that clear, he said, the city can use the money for street improvements and surface parking.
“Over the last 24 years the congressman has built up a reputation as someone who is very difficult to deal with — he does not cooperate well with others over local projects,” Yudichak said. “He puts self-interest over the community interest.”
Some argue Kanjorski’s confrontational approach and conflicts of interest have contributed to his tough reelection fight in a year in which most Republicans are running scared.
When asked about the issues involving the parking garage and other transportation earmarks, Kanjorski immediately denied any problems and refused to discuss the matter further.
He later provided a lengthy written statement to The Hill in which he acknowledged the earmark problems and stressed his years of work for the needs of local communities in his district.
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