Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Democrats, attempting to defuse the politically nettlesome issue of earmarks, pledged to cut federal spending on the pet projects while making the process for doling out the funds more understandable to the public.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey and Senate counterpart Daniel Inouye said in a joint statement today they will cut funding for most types of earmarks in half from 2006 levels. The cuts would be smaller, about 12 percent according to committee earmark estimates, compared with the most recent levels.

The lawmakers also said they will begin requiring members of Congress to post online explanations of their individual earmark requests, which few lawmakers currently do.

The changes mean “greater public scrutiny and members of Congress will have more time and access to more information before they vote on bills,” Obey and Inouye said in the statement.

Estimates of 2006 funds set aside for lawmakers’ projects vary because there is no commonly accepted definition of what constitutes an earmark. The House Appropriations Committee estimates lawmakers spent $17 billion on the projects that year.

The plan was praised by some earmark critics. House Minority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, commended the decision in a statement. Steve Ellis, vice president of the Washington- based Taxpayers for Common Sense, a group that tracks earmarks, also praised the proposed changes, calling them a “step in the right direction.”

Why Not ‘Cut Them All?’

Senator Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, was more critical, calling the plan a “start” while asking, “why don’t they want to cut them all?” Coburn also said he is skeptical that lawmakers’ explanations of their projects will prove adequate, saying it is easy to cloak earmarks in vague or confusing language.

The plan may allow President-elect Barack Obama to claim progress on a perennially difficult issue. While the projects have become synonymous with wasteful spending, they remain popular with lawmakers who say the practice has been unfairly criticized. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, proposed banning earmarks last year only to back down after meeting opposition from lawmakers in both parties.

Obama said today he won’t accept any earmarks in the economic stimulus package now being crafted by lawmakers. “We’re not having earmarks in the recovery package, period,” Obama said.

Projects ‘Misunderstood’

Representative Jose Serrano, a New York Democrat who heads the financial services appropriations subcommittee, said he was resigned to the earmark plan, calling it “something that has to be done, unfortunately.”

He said the projects have been misunderstood by the public. “I represent the poorest congressional district in the nation,” Serrano said. “They don’t have all the resources to lobby Washington. I’m their lobbyist.”

“Why can’t poor communities get arts projects? And if it takes an earmark to get an arts project, why not?” Serrano said. “The public expects change, President Obama ran on that change and here comes the change.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Faler in Washington at bfaler@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 6, 2009 19:45 EST