Mass. Earmarks Have Familiar Theme: Kennedys

More than one out of every five dollars of the $126 million Massachusetts is receiving in earmarks from a $410 billion federal spending package is going to help preserve the legacy of the Kennedys. The bill includes $5.8 million for the planning and design of a building to house a new Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the Senate. The funding also may support an endowment for the institute.

The bill also includes $22 million to expand facilities at the JFK Presidential Library & Museum and $5 million more for a new gateway to the Boston Harbor Islands on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, a park system in downtown Boston named after Kennedy's mother. A spokeswoman for Sen. Kennedy said he hadn't asked for the money for the library and institute—the request came from John Kerry—and noted that there are dozens of other earmarks for homeless services and community health centers. (More Massachusetts stories.)