http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_4009694

Article Launched: 7/04/2006 12:00 AM


County subsidizes jailing illegals
Sheriff says feds fail to fulfill responsibility
BY LISA FRIEDMAN, Washington Bureau
LA Daily News

WASHINGTON - With Congress poised to shortchange California and other states that jail high numbers of criminal illegal immigrants, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is preparing to testify before a federal panel on the need for adequate funding.

Legislation headed for the U.S. Senate includes $415 million nationwide for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, repaying states for some of the incarceration costs. California spends more than $600 million annually on what it views as a federal responsibility.

"This is an issue of fairness, responsibility and public safety," said Rep. David Dreier, R-Glendora. He and other members of the Southern California delegation have pushed for increased funding even as the Bush administration has annually tried to slash it.

Local officials say Los Angeles County spends about $90 million more annually than it receives from Washington. That shortfall is among the points Baca plans to address Wednesday before a congressional panel on illegal immigration convening in San Diego.

According to Dreier, California has received $1 billion over the past six years from the program. Los Angeles County has received $118 million and San Bernardino County, $3 million.

The House, voting 393-23, passed the spending bill for the program and $59.8 billion for other programs in the Commerce and Justice departments. The entire Southern California congressional delegation voted in favor of it.

The measure includes funding to expand a San Fernando Valley substance-abuse treatment program, though the exact amount has not yet been set.

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, said he and other lawmakers have asked for $1.5 million for the Phoenix Academy in Lake View Terrace, the only local facility that provides long-term residential treatment for teens fighting substance-abuse problems. The money will be used to increase the number of beds at the facility.

Congress put Phoenix Academy on a list of programs that will get a slice of a $115.2 million grant program, with the size of the slice to be determined later in the year.

Also expected to receive money through that grant are the Los Angeles city and county Community Law Enforcement and Recovery anti-gang program; the Los Angeles County community policing program; and the Domestic Abuse Response Team of Los Angeles.

NASA, which is funded through the same bill, came out with $16.7 billion, a $462 million increase over last year.

That includes $700 million for Mars missions and $98.5 million for the Space Interferometry Mission at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. There also is $10 million for another JPL program, the Terrestrial Planet Finder.

Dreier, who secured the funding for the Pasadena-based laboratory, called it a "shining example of hard work, dedicated research and true discovery."

Also slated to receive as-yet to be determined funding: South Los Angeles for a program to help kids at risk for trouble; Friends of Child Advocates of Los Angeles County; regional fingerprint identification programs in San Bernardino and Riverside counties; the East Valley Justice Communications Center in Redlands; a crime analysis system for the city of Redlands; and an unspecified law enforcement initiative in Ventura County.

lisa.friedman@langnews.com

(202) 662-8731