Just south of San Diego, the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry is currently undergoing a major renovation to create a “port of the future.”
The Weekly Standard reported that the U.S. General Services Administration has announced $500,000 in estimated art commissions for Phase 3 of a $735 million project to renovate and expand the busiest land port in the western hemisphere.
Funding for the art commission comes from the GSA’s “Art in Architecture” program. The program reserves “one-half of one percent of the estimated construction costs for each new federal building” for pieces of art.
Romina Boccia, the Grover M. Hermann Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, argues that this art commission is another example of excessive government spending.
“With this year’s deficit at more than a half a trillion dollars, every penny in savings counts,” says Boccia. “The federal government should live within its means and reserve deficit-spending for temporary emergencies and mission-critical investments.”
“Such fiscal discipline is sorely lacking from the Obama administration,” she adds.
According to the GSA’s website, the program intends to facilitate “meaningful cultural dialogue between the American people and their government,” by installing permanent works of art in federal buildings throughout the country.
The GSA considers this port to be a “critical economic engine” for San Diego, processing over 50,000 northbound vehicles everyday.
