Pa. Senator backs expiration for highway earmarks

Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey wants to put an expiration date on unspent highway “earmarks” through two bills he introduced in late January that would fix “orphan earmarks,” USA Today reports.

“Open earmarks” occur when money Congress sets aside for pet projects do not get spent.

Casey, a Democrat, has introduced two bills last week: the Redistribution of Unspent Earmarks Act and the Use It or Lose It Act. Together, according to the Feb. 1 USA Today report. The bills would mandate that earmarks older than three years be returned to the states to use on any eligible highway project.