Date of Award
6-2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Public Administration
Department
Public Administration
First Reader/Committee Chair
Fudge, Marc
Abstract
Finding revenue is a challenge that faces many municipalities in the United States. As the tax base continues to decline and demand for government services increases, local governments are forced to make hard choices. Low on the list of priorities for local governments is the maintenance, and construction of infrastructure. Traditionally there have been several ways for local governments to fund long-term infrastructure projects including, federal-aid through the process of earmarking. The practice of earmarking has been around since the first congress, but hit its peak between 2003 and 2007. The earmarking process is controversial for several reasons; earmarking bypasses traditional merit procedures for distribution of federal-aid, earmarking is said to add costs to the agency awarded the funding, and earmarking has been linked to Congressional scandals and wasteful spending. In this paper I explore how an earmark, designated to local governments to fund long-term infrastructure projects, contributes to the costs of the project.
Recommended Citation
Zappia, Nicholis John, "The Cost of Earmarks" (2016). Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations. 330.
https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/330
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