Washington — There will be 50 percent fewer earmarks in the spending bills for the 2010 fiscal year than there were in the fiscal-2006 bills, the chairmen of the Appropriations Committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives announced today.

The announcement came two years after Congressional Democrats imposed a one-year moratorium on earmarks and increased the transparency surrounding the noncompetitively awarded grants, many of which are directed to academic institutions by members of Congress.

Despite those changes two years ago, the number of earmarks awarded to academe reached record levels in the 2008 fiscal year, even as overall earmarks were reduced.

Under the new rules, members of Congress will be required to post information on their Web sites describing each earmark they are requesting and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds. In addition, tables listing each earmark and its sponsor will be available for public review on the same day an Appropriations subcommittee reports a spending bill or 24 hours before the full committee votes on it. —Kelly Field