When the 117th U.S. Congress takes office Jan. 3, Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro of the 3rd District will be the new chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee. That her arrival in this leadership position could coincide with a revival of so-called “earmarks” could prove advantageous for the state and deal making in Washington.

The Democrat from New Haven had to win 15 elections to put her in a position to compete for one of the top leadership positions in the House. It is arguably the highest position a Connecticut representative has held since Jonathan Trumbull Jr. served as speaker from 1791-1793.

DeLauro, 77, is among a growing list of Democrats in the House who contend it is time to revive earmarks.

"It is a dynamic environment, and I think we are in a better position now to move forward in this area," DeLauro recently told NPR.

Earmarks are allocations inserted into bills at the request of individual legislators for some specific project or program back in their home districts and states. Policy wise, they often have nothing in common with the bill. It provides a senator or congressperson with the ability to bring home some bacon — the renovation of the local train station; a new recreational program for disadvantaged youth; infrastructure to provide high-speed internet access in a rural community, for example.

There is no question that earmarks, banned by Congress as a check on itself since 2011, can be subject to abuse. There was former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens’ $220 million bridge to nowhere expenditure, a $3.4 million turtle tunnel in Florida, and $500,000 for the Sparta Teapot Museum of Craft and Design in North Carolina.

The bridge was never built and the museum closed in 2010, but the turtles did get their safe passage.

But the fact is the most egregious earmarks did get flagged. Reforms approved when Democrats controlled the House during President Obama’s first two years in office improved transparency and accountability.

Republicans, however, recognized they had become a symbol of government waste and, under the leadership of Speaker John Boehner, instituted a ban in 2011 that has persisted since.

When it comes to wastefulness, however, the influence of earmarks has been exaggerated. In 2010 the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said banning earmarks would be the proverbial drop in the deficit bucket.

“Banning earmarks will have no impact on getting our deficits and debt under control,” the committee said. “The total amount earmarked in a given year is generally no more than 1 percent of the entire federal budget.”

In other words, the ban is style over substance. It does nothing to address the real policies driving deficit spending — such as the massive gap between what the government spends and what it collects through taxation; interest costs on the debt that are now the fastest-growing item in federal budget; and the lack of any stomach for entitlement reform.

Meanwhile, by doing away with earmarks, Congress eliminated a negotiating tool that in the past was able to find paths to compromise and cobble together coalitions to get legislation passed.

And it is not as if the bacon went away, it is just that the president and the Washington bureaucracy has the control over it.

DeLauro is an unabashed progressive, someone who wants the strong hand of government to address societal inequities. She has pushed for federal paid family leave laws, a higher minimum wage, for greater assistance for early childhood programs and support of Planned Parenthood.

But she also has a reputation as a deal maker, someone willing to work with Republicans on areas where they can find common ground. Reviving earmarks to help everyone win could help ease the chronic stalemate problem in Washington. The challenge to get things done will only increase with Democrats holding only a narrow majority in the House and a Senate that either Republicans or Democrats will control by just a vote or two, depending on the outcome of the special Senate elections in Georgia.

A repoed released in October by the bipartisan Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress included among its recommendations the creation of a “Community-Focused Grant Program” to help congresspeople gain grants for specific programs back home — in other words, a more palatable name for earmarks.

Whatever it may be called, it may well be time to restore this deal-making tool, while including safeguards to assure transparency and avoid abuses.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.