From healthcare expansion and community investment to entertainment and historic restoration, the earmarks of Congressional spending requests in Delaware County are varied, writes Jonathan Tamari for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The list, presented by U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Delaware) includes:

• $1.5 million to restore the historic 1927 Lansdowne Theater and create a regional concert hall to spur economic growth and employment.
• $1 million to expand medical facilities in Chester to offset Chester’s rising rates of STDs, hepatitis C, opioid use disorders, mental health disorders, and HIV/AIDS.
•  $475,000 to create a local investment platform for neighborhood groups.
• 981,562, Darby Free Library Restoration and Resilience Initiative.
• $650,000 to create mobile crisis teams to respond with police when dealing with a person suffering from mental illness.
• $975,000 to create an Upper Darby Community Center Green Roof for recreational, community use.

You can see more detail on all of the proposed projects here.

The earmarks, known today as “community project funding”, is federal money put aside by individual lawmakers for community projects in their districts.

The practice was banned by Republicans a decade ago following corruption scandals, but they’ve returned with Democrats in control of the House.

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer about earmark projects being considered in the U.S. Congress for Delaware County.