"According to its annual report, called the "Pig Book," released this week by Citizens Against Government Waste, Mississippi ranked sixth in the nation for earmarks. It had more than $321 million in special projects in the 2006 spending bills. That does not include grants to state universities, highway funds or hurricane response money that has brought billions more to the state."
"We're not saying that all projects are bad," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who has led efforts to limit special project funding. "We're saying they should go through the process."
...The 2006 Pig Book identified 9,963 projects in the 11 appropriations bills that constitute the discretionary portion of the federal budget for fiscal 2006, costing taxpayers $29 billion. A "pork" project is a line-item in an appropriations bill that designates tax dollars for a specific purpose in circumvention of established budgetary procedures. To qualify as pork, a project must meet one of seven criteria that were developed in 1991 by CAGW and the Congressional Porkbusters Coalition....
* Requested by only one chamber of Congress; * Not specifically authorized; * Not competitively awarded; * Not requested by the President; * Greatly exceeds the President’s budget request or the previous year’s funding; * Not the subject of congressional hearings; or * Serves only a local or special interest.....
"University of Southern Mississippi" the the 2006 Pig Book database:
MS $1,000,000 Toxin Alert Development Project at the University of Southern Mississippi (Small Business Administration) NBR, S
MS $2,000,000 University of Southern Mississippi Forensic Teaching Laboratory (State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance - Byrne Discretionary Grant) NBR, C
MS $500,000 University of Southern Mississippi - Family Network Partnership (State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance - Byrne Discretionary Grant) NBR, C
MS $3,200,000 Mississippi Automated System Project, University of Southern Mississippi (Crime Identification Technology Act Grants) NBR, C
MS $500,000 Univeristy of Southern Mississippi's School of Polymers and High Performance Materials Improved Materials for Fuel Cell Membranes Program (Legacy Management) NBR, S
Key:
NBR, S = No Budget Request, only requested by the Senate