Obama's budget calls for reimbursement for cost of jailing undocumented

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Obama's budget calls for reimbursement for cost of jailing undocumented immigrants
By BEN GOAD
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - For the first time in a decade, the White House's federal budget proposal contains funding to partially reimburse states for the cost of incarcerating illegal immigrants.
California's share of $330 million proposed for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program would cover only a fraction of the state's expenses related to jailing undocumented immigrants. But Inland Southern California's federal lawmakers say the funding represents an important acknowledgement by the Obama administration that the federal government is responsible for at least a portion of the costs.
And the money's inclusion gives Congress a better position than in years past to negotiate a larger amount as the budget process moves forward, they said.
"Last year there was none -- so you start from a point of none, and it's very hard to build it up," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
The fight over reimbursement funding in recent years has seemed like a rerun of a bad television show in the eyes of California's state and federal lawmakers. Each year, the president released a budget proposing to "zero out" funding for the program.
Lawmakers then fought to add it back through passage of annual spending bills, though the total set aside for the program never amounted to more than a fraction of the costs incurred.
In California, the state Department of Corrections expects to spend roughly $970 million in the current fiscal year to incarcerate more than 19,000 undocumented immigrants, or about 11 percent of the state's prison population.
Obama's $330 million proposal, unveiled this week as part of his budget request, would send about $90 million to California. The proposal falls well short of what California needs as officials struggle to close a massive budget deficit, said H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the state Finance Department.
"Even at that level, California is getting back less than 10 cents on every dollar," Palmer said. "It's not equitable and not fair in the governor's view."
Increased federal funding to repay the costs of jailing illegal immigrants was near the top of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's list last month during two days of meetings with lawmakers and top Obama administration officials in Washington.
The issue is one on which Democrats and Republicans who represent California agree, and lawmakers lauded the inclusion of the funding and vowed to work to boost the amount in the months to come.
In the House, much of that work will take place in the Appropriations Committee, where Reps. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, and Ken Calvert, R-Corona, both serve.
Lewis was relieved that the Obama administration decided against the "cynical move" of zeroing out the funding to lower the total budget cost, while knowing that Congress would put some amount of the money back.
Calvert, who along with Lewis has criticized the Obama administration for spending too much in its first year, said he would look for other places to trim the budget to make room for the funding.
"While $330 million is not nearly enough to reimburse state and local governments for the costs of incarcerating criminal aliens, I also recognize that times are tough and Congress needs to buckle down on spending," Calvert said.
"Illegal immigration is clearly a federal priority and as an appropriator, I will be looking to support the most cost-effective programs such as SCAAP, but any increase to SCAAP will only be pursued by an offset from another program that is a lesser priority."
Reach Ben Goad at 202-661-8422 or bgoad@PE.com
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/s...6.37e6acb.html