Hutchison promises chamber leaders she’ll request earmarks for Trinity River projects in Dallas and Fort Worth

By: Tom Benning/The Dallas Morning News

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison promised Wednesday to secure federal funds for the Trinity River projects in Dallas and Fort Worth and to see the massive redevelopments through to completion.

“Nothing great ever happens easily. This is not easy,” she said. “But it is so important to the development of our two cities that I’m not at all giving up.”

Both Trinity projects rely heavily on earmarks, and Hutchison told business leaders from the Dallas Regional Chamber and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce that she will use earmarks, among other methods, to ensure both projects receive the money they need.

“I am absolutely not walking away from earmarks,” she said at a luncheon at the Capitol.

Hutchison has never had any qualms about requesting earmarks, which are projects inserted into bills by lawmakers without the normal legislative process.

Her support could be particularly important for the Fort Worth plan because that district’s representative, Kay Granger, has signed on to House Republicans’ one-year ban of earmarks.

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