The Alchemist

The House and Senate Appropriations Committees have set deadlines for lawmakers to submit their earmark requests for fiscal 2009, which begins on October 1, 2008.  Although these deadlines are usually different for each Appropriations Subcommittee, press reports have indicated a March 19 deadline for the House subcommittees and the end of April for most of the Senate subcommittees. 

 

Members and Senators usually communicate a prioritized list of their earmark requests in formal letters to the chairs of each of the Appropriations Subcommittees. These member requests play a central part of the earmarking process. Companies with new technologies seeking a Congressional earmark should aim at getting on one of these lists, since projects which are included in these letters are more likely to be funded than those that are not. Companies that make their requests after these lists have already been turned in will probably find it more difficult to get their project funded.