Institutions and organizations in Michigan have received a proposed $13,765,000 in earmarks according to research from the non-profit Sunlight Foundation who earlier this month produced an interactive map allowing citizens to track proposed earmarks in the 2007 House of Representatives Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill (HR 5647). According to the Sunlight Foundation, a total of 1,867 earmarks worth more than half a billion tax dollars were attached to the bill as part of the appropriations process, with $650,000 going to projects in Grand Rapids. The bill contains three appropriations for organizations in Grand Rapids—$350,000 for Cherry Street Health Services, $200,000 for the Van Andel Institute, and St. Mary’s Health Care. According to the vague descriptions in the bill, the money is for “facilities and equipment” at Cherry Street Health Services, “the West Michigan Community Bio-Med/Molecular Cooperative” at the Van Andel Institute, and “an automated records system” for St. Mary’s Health Care.

The Sunlight Foundation decided to focus on the on the proposed Department of Labor/Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill (HR 5647) as it is representative of the problem that excessive earmarks have become since the mid-1990s, with earmarks rising from 3,055 in 1996 to 14,211 in 2004. An earmark is a line-item inserted in a bill to direct funds to a specific project or recipient and have long functioned as the primary means of inserting “pork” or excessive spending in bills as earmarks are most often used to fund preferred projects of individual legislators in their home districts or as a means of rewarding political backers. The earmarks are awarded without transparency, there are no Congressional debates on individual earmarks, they are listed anonymously in bills, and are often inserted in private committee meetings. Individual legislators insert earmarks into bills, often doing so at the behest of lobbyists and political supporters. As with most processes in Congress, senior Congress members and committee chairs hold the most power and consequently have the most individual earmarks. The Department of Labor Appropriations Bill is indicative of the problem that earmarks have become, as last year’s bill had no earmarks while this year’s has over 1,700 earmarks without any substantive disclosure. Since the start of the effort, citizen journalists and bloggers across the country have had success in uncovering information on the earmarks including earmarks for a lobbyist's own foundation.

While a phone call to Grand Rapids area Representative Vern Ehlers was unsuccessful in determining if he secured the earmarks for the Grand Rapids organizations, as the Washington staffer that could answer the question is out of the office until September 5, one of the earmarks—for the Van Andel Institute—seems suspect due to Ehlers due to his connections to the late Jay Van Andel, his previous efforts to secure funding for federal funding for the Van Andel Institute, and the political contributions of the Van Andel Institute’s board. In the past three election cycles (2006, 2004, and 2003), members of the Van Andel Institute’s board have made political contributions to both Representative Vern Ehlers campaign as well as the Republican Party. The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Van Andel Institute’s Board of Trustees—David L. Van Andel—made a $15,000 contribution to the National Republican Congressional Committee in 2005, a $25,000 contribution to the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2006, and $1,000 to President George W. Bush in 2003, while the Van Andel family contributed around $160,000 to Republicans over the past three election cycles. Chairman of the Board Ralph Haunstein has contributed $5,000 to Representative Ehlers in the past three election cycles—including $1,000 earlier this year—while supporting a variety of other Republicans. Peter C. Cook, a wealthy conservative in Grand Rapids and chairman on the Van Andel Institute’s Board of Trustees, contributed $1,000 to Representative Ehlers annually from 2003-2006 and contributed $10,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee in 2002 and 2004 as part of a total of $100,000 in political contributions to Republican candidates, political action committees, and parties. In addition to contributions from members of the Van Andel Institute’s Board, Representative Ehlers secured $462,555 in federal funding earlier this year for the development of a lab connected to the Van Andel Institute. When Jay Van Andel passed away in 2004, Ehlers praised Van Andel for his faith, his donations to conservative institutions such as the Heritage Foundation and the United States Chamber of Commerce, his contributions to the Republican Party, and for the Van Andel Institute which he described as perhaps Van Andel’s “most lasting legacy,” which Ehlers expects to become “a world-class leader in medical and cancer research.” While still awaiting response from Ehlers office as to whether or not he secured the Grand Rapids earmarks in HR 5647, the interconnectedness between Representative Ehlers, the Van Andel Institute’s board, and the Republican Party, provides a worthy avenue for investigation and another example of how the wealthy and conservative right in West Michigan seeks to use its influence to shape political policy, as well as the need for more disclosure and transparency in the politics.