Randy Kuhl was chair of the Agriculture Committee during his last term as a State Senator. In that powerful position, he was probably able to dispense a number of earmarks, or "member items", as the State Legislature calls pork. Finding out about Kuhl's pork, and the pork sponsored by other members, has become quite an ordeal, thanks to legislative leadership.
The Albany Times-Union has been trying to get a usable list of member items since June. Their first request went to court and the court ordered release of the items. So both houses released a list with the legislator's names blacked out. The Times-Union went back to court, which ordered the release of the items with names included. In response, the Senate released a list of items as images in a "locked" PDF. This meant that it was impossible to search the text in the 3,000 page file, and cutting-and-pasting parts of the file was prohibited.
The Times-Union has already pressured the Assembly to release a text PDF, but the Senate hasn't budged. Common Cause is using scanning and PDF decryption software in an attempt to convert the data into a usable form. Papers in the 29th have started to notice this ridiculous charade, including the Elmira Star-Gazette and Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
In the U.S. House, Kuhl's earmarks will be public record starting with the next Congress, thanks to the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, which Kuhl co-sponsored. That act, which passed the House by voice vote, mandates a searchable database of earmarks which must be live by January 1, 2008. We'll see if the Times-Union gets a usable file from the State Senate by then.
Comments
I wonder if we can figure out which Bill each pork item is connected to. For example, "I'll vote for your 'Road To Nowhere' in Alaska if you vote for my Randy Kuhl Sport Complex' at Keuka College. (It is really called Randy Kuhl Fields'). That way we can figure out how much he had to spend to get his 'Nearly 2 and 1/2 million dollars' for the 29th.
Glad to have you back.
Rich, I have high hopes for the earmark database. I want to compare the entries there with campaign finance reports to correlate donations with earmarks. The earmark database will be a true database, not a PDF image, so it will be useful as soon as it is posted.
It should be noted that Kuhl was a cosponsor of the transparency bill.
Very important point - he was one of only 8. I updated the post. Thanks.
And here I thought the race was over. You are terrific, in effect serving as "a watchdog" for our Congressman and the District. Three Cheers! What is up with Mr. Massa? Love your blog...O.G.
Olean Gal - I think Eric Massa is probably spending some time with his family, retiring his (small) campaign debt, and planning his next move in politics.