An earmarks watchdog said the process has gotten better.
David Williams, vice president of policy at Citizens Against Government Waste, said that Congress has become more transparent about requests for federal spending.
Last year, appropriations bills included the names of members of Congress who had requested the specific earmarks for the first time. This year, members posted their requests for earmarks on their official Web sites.
"It's fantastic," he said. "We've seen some really good strides in the past couple of years to bring transparency to this process."
In previous years, his group had to pore over press releases from members of Congress to see if they had announced they had gotten money. Now, they have more time to look at what the earmarks would do.
"It has cut down signficantly on our work," he said.
Still, Williams said the group has to remain vigilant. The most recent spending bill was signed much later than usual and some earmark requests remain anonymous.
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