Bringing home pork: Tally of congressional earmarks: In the first year that approved congressional 'earmarks' were made public, 7 Central Florida lawmakers are on track to win $65 million of $300 million requested.

Byline: Mark K. Matthews

Sep. 24--WASHINGTON

There's an unspoken hierarchy in Congress when it comes to pork-barrel politics: Those who get the first shot at federal dollars tend to be party leaders and lawmakers who write the spending bills.

Central Florida is no different. The delegation's most powerful U.S. House member -- Rep. Adam Putnam of Bartow -- used his position as third-ranking Republican to snare $16.4 million in so-called "earmarked" spending requests, the most among local House members.

Rep. Dave Weldon, an Indialantic Republican and the only Central Floridian on the Appropriations Committee, got support for all six of his earmarks, including $2 million to fund autism research at Florida Institute of Technology.

In the eight-member Central Florida delegation, dominated by Republicans with relatively little seniority, they were the exceptions.

Their colleagues saw most of their earmarks rejected. Among the seven members who disclosed their wish lists to the Orlando Sentinel in June, more than $300 million in requests has translated to about $65 million in projects that received House approval.