The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced that it is providing the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and the Kansas City International Airport with $4.9 million and $7 million respectively in federal grant money funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The money is being provided through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airport Improvement Program to rehabilitate airport taxiways.

To read the grant notifications from DOT, click here for Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and click here for the Kansas City International Airport.

Funding to states and localities through the economic recovery package will be allocated through existing federal programs like these, rather than earmarks, in order to ensure prompt distribution and better accountability. Local projects receive funds from these grants by following the process set up by each program.

Senator Claire McCaskill says she believes that federal grants and loans are a positive alternative to earmarks.