Pick Your Favorite Earmark

The amendments to the House Ways & Means Budget are in!!

Take a spin through and find your favorites.

First, two requests in the name of transparency — give them names that are comprehensible (FY 2010 Amendment (TAP-LIFT).doc, anyone?) and don’t use the .docx format.

I encourage loyal readers to add their favorites in the comments.

I’ll start the bidding with $217,000 for new tennis courts at Wakefield High. Maybe it really is for the children….

More generally, I may be naive, but I’m always puzzled by the legality of naming specific, non-public providers for specific state services and the dollar amount they should receive.

Look, I think Junior Achievement is probably doing a great job, but does putting a $275,000 payment to them into law mean that they are best-qualified and most motivated to do the work? Maybe, but I’d rather see that decision made through a competitive procurement, not the minutiae of the budget process.