Party Plans Probe Over Funds

After demanding that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger do a better job bringing federal tax dollars back to California, Democrats in the Legislature upped the ante Monday and said they would investigate how the governor spent hundreds of millions intended to guard California against terrorism.

Starting this month, lawmakers said they would analyze how the Republican administration has spent its share of federal anti-bioterrorism money distributed since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles).

“We’ve been critical of the governor’s attempts to get more federal money,” said Steve Maviglio, Nunez’s spokesman, “and we can’t afford to have the federal government see that we’ve squandered what we received.”

Nunez’s call for scrutiny comes at a time of rather raw relations between Schwarzenegger and legislative Democrats, who hold majorities in both state houses.

Democrats have been pushing Schwarzenegger to lobby the Bush administration to send California more money, saying the state is a “donor” that gets back only 77 cents for every dollar its citizens pay in federal taxes.

Last week the governor accused the Legislature of ignoring his calls for reform on a variety of fronts, including the state budget and the drawing of political districts.

The announcement of hearings on antiterrorism funds also comes two days before the Legislature is set to question Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, a Democrat, about how his office spent tens of millions of federal dollars intended to upgrade the state’s election system.

A state audit released in December faulted Shelley’s office for failing to distribute money to counties, skirting state contract rules and using some of the money for partisan purposes.

Maviglio said the timing of the Assembly inquiry is tied to an article last week in the Sacramento Bee. That article described two reports -- one released in June by the Santa Monica-based Rand Corp., the other in December by the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health -- that found a lack of strong state leadership on public health and ranked California a 5 on a scale of 10 in terms of terrorism preparedness.

The Bee article said state health department officials could not provide a detailed explanation of how they had spent federal grants received since the 2001 attacks.

“We need to see where they’re at, where they’re going and get them on the right track,” said Assemblyman Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate), chairman of the Assembly’s budget subcommittee on health and human services, who will guide the hearings.

Schwarzenegger’s office referred calls to the state Department of Health Services, whose spokesman, Ken August, said the department is ready and willing to explain its use of the federal grants.

Department figures show that the state has received $283 million in federal bioterrorism funds since 1999, which does not include separate grants the federal government has made to Los Angeles County. Of the $283 million, $187 million has been distributed to cities and counties to prepare for public health emergencies, and the department itself has spent $68 million, with plans and contracts in place for spending the rest.

“The administration and Legislature share an interest in assuring that California is prepared to respond to emergencies,” said August. “The California Department of Health Services welcomes the opportunity to discuss issues of common interest and concern with members of the Legislature.”