County supervisors upbeat after lobbying trip to D.C.

Even though they returned last month with no immediate tangible rewards from their annual trip to Capitol Hill, Los Angeles County supervisors think the warm reception they got from a new congressional majority will pay future dividends.

The five supervisors found a predominantly Democratic California delegation slowly beginning to flex new power. Similar to past efforts, the supervisors lobbied for more federal money for hospitals, emergency communications and jails.

But this year, county officials lunched with the speaker of the House, who happens to be California Democrat Nancy Pelosi, and chatted with the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, New York Democrat Charles B. Rangel.

“We’re in a better position than we’ve ever been,” Supervisor Gloria Molina said during a cocktail reception at the Rayburn House Office Building. Molina is a Democrat, although the county supervisor posts are nonpartisan.

The whirlwind two-day trips are usually packed with a dozen or more meetings with members of Congress, White House officials and others who listen as the supervisors plead for more federal support. Over nearly two decades, top priorities during the visits have generally included healthcare, public safety and public works projects.

But now Southern California Democrats, familiar with L.A. County’s concerns, sit on powerful congressional committees, including Appropriations, Budget, Ways and Means, and Homeland Security. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) chairs the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

This year, the supervisors met with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, requesting federal money to upgrade emergency communications, support juvenile justice programs and help cover the costs of incarcerating illegal immigrants.

Less than a week after seeing the supervisors, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) wrote a letter to the Justice Department and Homeland Security chiefs, urging them to pay the county $12.5 million in overdue reimbursements for housing illegal immigrant criminals in jail.

“For 12 years, at least on Capitol Hill, it’s been harder to find people who shared our values and commitment,” said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who is also a Democrat. “Now we have quite a few. That’s the big difference.”

Supervisor Mike Antonovich, a Republican, broke away from the rest of the board for much of the trip, lobbying GOP lawmakers solo on immigration reform, improvements to the Interstate 15 corridor and developing inland hubs for transporting goods.

Although the supervisors don’t return home with blank U.S. government checks, county officials say face-to-face meetings on federal turf help maintain relationships with members of Congress and emphasize the importance of key issues.

“You can’t just drop out of the sky in Sacramento and Washington and say, ‘Oh, by the way, I have a problem, help me,’ ” said David Janssen, the county’s chief administrator. “It takes years of building relationships and trust to be able to go back to somebody and say, ‘This is important.’ ”

Capitol lobbying helped secure $2 billion in healthcare funding over the years, said Burt Margolin, a political consultant specializing in healthcare and a legislative strategist for the county.

Visits to Washington also led to flood-control construction along the Los Angeles River, regional Homeland Security funding and continued federal funds for Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital.

But the intangible benefits of traveling to the Capitol can be just as powerful, county officials say.

Supervisors appearing on Capitol Hill “elevate our advocacy, they raise the profile of the issues that we’re pursuing,” Margolin said.

“They are able to produce results on these issues that would not be possible without their personal attention and their personal engagement.”

Los Angeles County was one of the first local governments to establish a presence in D.C., according to county observers. A decade ago, Janssen helped reopen the county’s Washington lobbying office, which had been closed for several years.

“It was ludicrous to have your destiny controlled 3,000 miles away,” Janssen said.

Federal lobbying is particularly important to counties; roughly a third of L.A. County’s $21.2-billion budget is controlled directly by federal regulations, Janssen said.

Jampacked with county business, there was not much time for sightseeing on this year’s trip schedule, although some board members arrived before or left after the official meetings to conduct one-on-one appointments.

In addition to the supervisors, about 20 county officials made the trip, including Janssen, Sheriff Lee Baca, Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman, health chief Dr. Bruce Chernof, county counsel Raymond G. Fortner Jr. and a dozen supervisors’ staff members.

Because county employees file expense reports individually, there is no total estimate of the trip’s cost, said Gerri Kariya, county assistant administrative officer who handles intergovernmental relations. The cocktail reception at the Rayburn Building, with open bar and hors d’oeuvres, cost about $5,000, Kariya said.

Because of L.A. County’s enormous constituency, the Board of Supervisors carries extra clout when visiting Washington.

“If a person who represents roughly 10 million people shows up at your doorstep saying, ‘This thing is important to me, we want you to pay attention to it,’ it’s not easy to ignore,” said Kareem Crayton, an assistant professor of law and political science at USC.

Supervisors’ long tenures -- the five members have served together for 11 years -- make them familiar figures in Washington.

“You’re always coming back!” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) exclaimed to them during a recent meeting.

Several supervisors served with current members of Congress in the state Assembly, and Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke is a former congresswoman. The board members “speak with a credibility that other officeholders don’t necessarily have,” Margolin said.

susannah.rosenblatt@ latimes.com