Exclusion Of Earmarks Affect Oklahoma projects

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) A moratorium on ``earmarks,'' or federal funding for Oklahoma projects, will mean delays in road construction, in the replacement of aging city buses and in gaining greater

Saturday, December 23rd 2006, 2:09 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) A moratorium on ``earmarks,'' or federal funding for Oklahoma projects, will mean delays in road construction, in the replacement of aging city buses and in gaining greater access to radiology services in rural areas, officials said.

Members of the Oklahoma congressional delegation had included money for at least 45 projects in appropriations bills, but incoming Democratic leaders decided to stop all earmarks until reforms are put in place, The Oklahoman reported.

Metro Transit Authority officials wanted $1 million to purchase buses to replace vehicles that are 12 years old, past the recommended length of use for public buses. City transit director Rick Cain said the department asked the federal government for $4 million last year to replace older buses, but only received approval for the $1 million that was lost last week.

Cain said the city likely will keep the existing buses in service longer without the additional funding to pay for vehicles that cost about $270,000 each.

Other transportation funding affected included $1.1 million for work on Interstate 40 between I-240 and Choctaw Road; $900,000 to work on Oklahoma Highway 9 from Tecumseh to Seminole and $250,000 for a widening project on Interstate 44 in Tulsa near Yale Avenue.

The millions of dollars cut for road projects will have to be sought next year, either in earmarks, or in an increase in the government's general appropriation to the department, state Transportation Department spokeswoman Terri Angier said.

``To us it doesn't mean these projects won't get back on the board; it just means they want to start from scratch with new leadership,'' Angier said.

Excluding the earmarks also meant denial of $400,000 in funding to Integris Baptist Medical Center to help equip rural hospitals with a picture archiving system. The system would have allowed doctors in less populated areas to send a digital X-ray to a radiologist in a metro area for a quicker and more precise diagnosis.

Brooke Osburn, spokeswoman for Integris Health, said they will continue to look for other funding.

The Oklahoma City National Memorial also lost about $650,000 for construction and educational projects.

Executive Director Kari Watkins said the memorial is owed another $2 million from a $5 million commitment the federal government made in 2005. Memorial officials started a fund-raising campaign then with a goal of raising $5 million from the federal government, $5 million from state lawmakers and $5 million in private donations.

``We built a campaign around (the federal $5 million authorization). We raised private and corporate money on it, saying the federal government would step up. People in good faith gave us their money when the federal government did not,'' Watkins said.

Nearly $6 million that would have paid for a new power substation at Tinker Air Force Base also was eliminated.

Base spokesman Brion Ockenfels said the substation is ``vital to current mission needs and the future development in the southwest portion of the installation.''

The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation also lost out on $750,000, which was set to be used to buy new lab equipment.

A $400,000 cut from the American Indian Cultural Center in Oklahoma City will just mean more of an uphill fund-raising battle, said Gena Howard, deputy director of the Native American Cultural and Educational Authority.

The center is still in the planning stages, and the total cost is set at $135 million. The goal is to have the first phase of the project done by 2009, but that depends on state, federal and private dollars coming together, Howard said.