WASHINGTON — California and Texas lawmakers formed a
rare alliance to secure $240 million in federal funds to pay for jailing
illegal immigrants despite a congressional drive to reduce Washington’s
red ink.
After a House subcommittee proposed
eliminating federal reimbursements for state prisons and local jails
that incarcerate 300,000 convicted illegal immigrants nationwide,
lawmakers from the two most populous blue and red states formed a rare
alliance to preserve the money.
Securing the jail funding has long been one of California’s top priorities in Washington.
California
is expected to receive about $65.8 million, about $22 million less than
anticipated, according to a state Department of Finance spokesman. But
California officials in Washington expressed relief, given the earlier
proposal. The money represents only a fraction of the more than $938
million annual state costs of incarcerating illegal immigrants convicted
of crimes, state officials said.
The jail funding
is included in a spending bill approved by House-Senate negotiators
that would prevent a government shutdown this weekend. The overall bill
gives lawmakers until mid-December to complete work on spending bills
for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. It also would set funding levels
for the year for a number of programs.
No money is
provided for high-speed rail, a reflection of growing uneasiness in
Congress over the cost of projects such as a proposed California bullet
train. A California High-Speed Rail Authority spokeswoman said the
agency wasn’t anticipating federal funding before 2014. But the lack of
federal funding for fiscal 2012 could spell trouble in future years.
“High speed rail funding is a luxury at a time when federal dollars are
scarce,” said House Appropriations Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Hinge.
Funding
for the community development block grant, a key funding source for
local efforts to generate jobs, revitalize run-down neighborhoods and
help low-income residents, also was cut.
The bill
reinstates higher limits on loans in high housing cost markets such as
California but only for those insured by the Federal Housing
Administration, not for those backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as
sought by a bipartisan group of California lawmakers. The House
Appropriations Committee noted that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been
under public scrutiny for “questionable business practices.”
While
the provision didn’t go as far as he wanted, Rep. Brad Sherman,
D-Calif., called the higher $729,750 limit for FHA-insured loans the
single most important provision of the bill. He said it would “prevent a
collapse of housing prices in high cost areas like Los Angeles.”
In
securing the jail money, California and Texas benefited from the sizes
of their House delegations — No. 1 and 2, respectively — and the number
of their lawmakers in key positions.
Rep. Jerry
Lewis, California’s senior Republican in Congress, and David Dreier of
California, joined Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, in making pitches to Rep.
Frank Wolf, R-Va., the appropriations subcommittee chairman. Wolf’s
panel recommends funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance
Program.
Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Kay
Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, worked together, using their positions on
the Senate Appropriations Committee to preserve the funding.
They
argued that local and state taxpayers shouldn’t have to bear even more
of a burden for the federal government’s failure to control the border.
The
California-Texas alliance was surprising because the states are often
fierce competitors: Los Angeles beat Houston for a retired space
shuttle. Dallas knocked the Los Angeles Lakers out of the NBA playoffs
last year. And the Lone Star State is sure to crow about a Census report
showing that the most common state-to-state move last year was from
California to Texas.
“Every once in a while we stumble onto the fact that we have more common interests than we think,” Lewis said.
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©2011 the Los Angeles Times
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