Public Witness Testimony on Strengthening Congressional Casework to House Appropriations Legislative Branch Subcommittee for FY25
POPVOX Foundation Deputy Director Anne Meeker submitted testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch for Fiscal Year 2025 in support of the subcommittee’s work to strengthen Congress’ ability to provide excellent constituent services to the American people.
Public Witness Testimony on Boosting Congressional Capacity to House Appropriations Legislative Branch Subcommittee for FY25
POPVOX Foundation Director of Government Innovation Aubrey Wilson and Director of Government Capacity Taylor J. Swift submitted joint testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch for Fiscal Year 2025 requesting the subcommittee’s consideration of three initiatives to improve Congressional capacity in the House.
FY24 Eligible Accounts for Earmark Funding
Eligible account descriptions and sample projects for FY24 Member Directed Spending (“earmarks”).
POPVOX Foundation hosts webinar on Appropriations for Congressional Caseworkers
Member-Directed Spending (aka Community Project Funding or Earmarks) can be an effective tool for caseworkers to strengthen relationships with local programs and stakeholders. This webinar covered an introduction to MDS for caseworkers unfamiliar with appropriations, and tips on talking to community members about what to expect in the process.
Reporting on Earmarks: Resources for Journalists
The return of “earmarks” or Member-Directed Spending requests in 2021 was a significant change for the annual appropriations cycle. In this guide, we cover the basics of the reformed ‘earmark’ programs, including some common misconceptions, and examples of earmarks coverage from around the country.
House vs. Senate Earmark Accounts FY23
Last year, the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations announced the return of Member-Directed Spending, also known as “earmarks.” In the FY22 appropriations cycle, differences between the House and Senate processes, including mismatched eligible spending accounts, were some of the biggest unanswered questions of the reinstated process. This year, while there are still some discrepancies, the lists of eligible accounts in the House and Senate are very similar. We have provided a list below.
Earmarks word for FY23: “executability”
On March 31, POPVOX Foundation joined Bipartisan Policy Center and the Black Women’s Congressional Alliance to host a staff information-sharing session in collaboration with the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.
Eligible Accounts for Earmark Funding
Eligible account descriptions and sample projects for FY22 Member Directed Spending (“earmarks”).
So you submitted an appropriations request… now what?
Congratulations! Your Community Project Funding grant request (House) or Congressionally Directed Spending request (Senate) made it through the thorough internal vetting process of the congressional office and was submitted to the right subcommittee within either the House or Senate Committee on Appropriations. You may be wondering: what happens now?
In this post, we’ll walk through the timeline to expect, and how to track the progress of your request to see if it might be ultimately included in the final appropriations bill(s) for Fiscal Year 2022.
Assessing Member Office Implementation and Uptake of Member Directed Spending Programs, AKA “Earmarks” (Thus Far)
Over the past several months, we took a look at how Members messaged reinstated Member-directed spending (aka ‘earmark’) programs to their constituents, how they publicly indicated an intention to participate, and what lessons can be learned about the new program thus far.
House vs. Senate Member-Directed Spending
Both the House and Senate have reinstated Member-Directed Spending programs (formerly known as ‘earmarks’) this year, but there are some significant differences between the chambers. Below, we’ve provided some comparison, including differences between which eligible accounts are accepting Member-Directed Spending requests in both chambers. Resolving how to handle asymmetrical eligible accounts will happen in Conference after the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have both passed spending bills.