WASHINGTON DC – Yesterday, Rep. Michael Honda (CA-15), member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, announced $6,925,000 in funding for critical programs in California’s 15th district, as part of H.R.2847, the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010, which passed the House today. The bill funds important federal law enforcement activities; science, technology, and innovation programs; the Census; and environmental protection efforts.

Rep. Honda commented on his funding requests by saying, “These projects not only help to prevent and fight crime in our local communities, but, importantly, reassure my constituents that their tax dollars are being efficiently and effectively returned to their communities in visible and meaningful ways. I have long believed that much of the funding that we spend on incarceration could be more effectively spent on crime prevention, education, treatment, and rehabilitation programs, and I am proud to have provided funding for a number of projects in these areas in this bill. Furthermore, I made sure this bill funds services for victims of human trafficking and spearheads a public education campaign to raise awareness on this critical issue.”

In addition to preserving full funding for the Decennial Census, scheduled for 2010, in the bill, Rep. Honda was successful in increasing the level of funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) in H.R. 2847. An amendment Rep. Honda offered with House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce Science and Justice Chairman Mollohan on the House floor to add $100 million SCAAP to restore the program to its FY 2009 level of $400 million enjoyed bipartisan support and passed the House by an overwhelming vote of 405-1. The SCAAP program reimburses states and counties for the costs of incarcerating criminal aliens.

Advocating for California’s need to be reimbursed by SCAAP, given that the state receives 40% of all SCAAP funding, Rep Honda said, “California is currently being asked to shoulder too much of the federal government’s burden. Our state has the largest number of incarcerated undocumented criminals of any state in the nation; the cost to California alone is nearly $1 billion each y ear. SCAAP funding is too vital to cut. Without it, the burden results in cuts to many local law enforcement agencies including sheriffs, police officers, anti-gang violence units, and district attorney offices.”

Rep. Honda secured funding for the following projects in the bill, which can also be found at http://honda.house.gov:

Improving Law Enforcement Effectiveness Through the Use of Technology

• $710,000 for the Mobile Data Computer Replacement from COPS Law Enforcement Technology: Funding helps the San Jose Police Department purchase 100 Mobile Data Computers and install them in law enforcement vehicles. The project will improve communications, information sharing, crime analysis, intelligence gathering, and information management; and will significantly enhance the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of San Jose police officers.

• $1 million for Santa Clara County Criminal Justice Information Control: Funding enhances Santa Clara County’s criminal justice information system, providing functional enhancements, collaboration and information sharing, integration with other technologies such as Geographic Information Systems.

Helping Prevent Crime and Rehabilitate Offenders

• $400,000 for the "Skills to Succeed" Prisoner Re-Entry Pilot Project: Funding supports an offender reentry and recidivism prevention program, delivering comprehensive and coordinated interventions across housing, workforce, and social services.

• $400,000 for the Information Network for Student Success : Funding supports a confidential countywide database that will contain information about the educational histories of foster care youth to provide for targeted intervention and support that will improve school attendance, prevent school dropout, and lower juvenile crime.

• $170,000 for the Santa Clara County Delinquency Model Court: Funding will implement the Delinquency Model Court Guidelines to provide greater support for these youth and their families through new methods of collaboration, resource sharing and restructuring some elements of the juvenile justice process.

• $200,000 to Prevention, Resource, Information and Drug Education Project: Funding supports a drug prevention program that annually reaches 38,000 at-risk youth in California’s fifteenth district through expanded trained counselors, an interactive drug prevention web-site and a drug prevention and treatment camp.

• $600,000 for Judicial Training, Research, and Technical Assistance: Funding provides juvenile justice professionals, courts and system professionals the state-of-the-art information, training, technical assistance and research which will result in improved decision-making on cases involving at-risk youth.

Preventing and Responding to Abuse

• $1.875 million for Child Abuse Training Programs for Judicial Personnel: Funding will improve outcomes for children in foster care systems by providing judges, court-related professionals and child welfare agencies with practical, concrete, and effective tools for creating court improvements in handling of child abuse and neglect cases.

• $440,000 for San Jose State University and Community Collaborative Response to Victims of Domestic Violence: Funding will support a new model of collaborative education, training and community response to victims of domestic violence. San Jose State University Foundation will foster interdisciplinary internship team placements in Santa Clara County and the City of San Jose.

• $450,000 for Human Trafficking Victim Support Center: Funding will be used to offer direct services and wrap-around service coordination to human trafficking victims, as well as spearhead a public education campaign to raise awareness and facilitate identification, reporting of, and assistance to trafficking victims.

Fighting Crime

• $500,000 for the California Methamphetamine Strategy: Funding for the California Methamphetamine Strategy project will be used to specifically target methamphetamine production and distribution in Santa Clara County.

Responding to the Challenge of Global Climate Change

• $180,000 for San Jose State University for Training the Next Generation of Weather Forecasters: Funding will help complete development of a field experience class to broaden and enhance the undergraduate experience of B.S. Meteorology students so they will be able to recognize and forecast the wide array of weather phenomena expected as a result of global climate change.