Lawmakers Delay Release Of ‘Member Items' List

ALBANY — Lawmakers are delaying the release of a $170 million master list of legislative pork barrel handouts, which are lined out in the budget but in the form of dozens of partial lists scattered among thousands of pages of bills.

For the first time in years, the budget lines out individual recipients of pet project grants known as "member items" and the appropriation. Before, the grants were inserted into the budget as $200 million lump sums and divided up later by the governor and legislative leaders in a secretive process in which seniority, party-affiliation, and favoritism played a large role. The taxpayer-funded grants went to a vast constellation of civic groups and government entities with little in the way of public oversight.

Lawmakers last year agreed to line out the member items after a state court mandated such disclosure after the Times Union of Albany filed a lawsuit demanding the release of the information. The higher level of scrutiny came amid allegations of corruption and misuse of the funds.

Despite the new level of disclosure in this year's budget, it's still not easy to keep track of the grants, and critical information is still missing from the bills. The recipients and appropriations do not appear in one list but are broken down by agency, forcing an observer of the budget to pore through thousands of pages to collect the data.

The lists also do not say which lawmaker sponsored the grant or specify the money's purpose. The partial lists are marked by a double-letter that signifies which legislative conference sponsored the grants.

"AA" stands for the Republican Senate majority; "BB" stands for the Democratic Senate minority; "CC" stands for the Democratic Assembly majority; "DD" stands for joint grants sponsored by both the Assembly and the Senate; and "EE" stands for the Republican Assembly minority. There is no key in the budget that decodes the lettered markers.

Several lawmakers in both houses, including the Republican Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, have voluntarily disclosed the grants that have been appropriated to groups in their districts. But legislative leaders have yet to release a master list of the grants.

A spokesman for Mr. Bruno said the conference would release the information before the money is actually spent by the state. A spokesman for the Assembly Democrats said the conference was still putting together a complete list.

Starting this year, lawmakers must also fill out disclosure certificates with the attorney general's office for grants going to nonprofit and for-profit corporations, assuring that the money is going for a public purpose and that there are no conflicts of interest. Lawmakers caught lying on the forms could face charges of perjury.