The Senate Appropriations Committee is continuing its moratorium on earmarks, Chairman Daniel Inouye announced on Thursday. 

The moratorium will apply to all appropriations bills for the 2013 fiscal year. 

“The Constitution grants to the Congress the power of the purse,” Inouye said in a statement. “There is no authority more vital to the separation of powers than the one that prevents the executive branch from directly spending the tax dollars collected from its citizens. Depriving the Congress of the ability to direct money to specific projects does not save money or reduce the deficit, it simply gives additional power to the President, and weakens the legislative branch.”

Inouye said he continues to support members right to a “transparent earmarking process.” He has long faced criticism for his ability to funnel money into Hawaii projects. The Center for Responsive Politics ranked him No. 2 in the Senate for most earmarks in 2010. On the House side, Rep. Mazie Hirono ranked No. 1.

“Hawaii is a long way from Washington, DC,” Inouye said. “It is simply not possible for a bureaucrat here in Washington to understand the needs of my home state as well as I do. Such is the case with all 50 states.”

Inouye equated the moratorium on earmarks to a system that instead relies on “phone calls, conversations, winks and nods.”