Controller Says Drug War Money Is Due

City Controller Rick Tuttle, who recently returned from Washington where he lobbied against a bill that would have tied up $23 million earmarked for drug enforcement in Los Angeles, said Thursday he has been assured the proposed one-year freeze will not be imposed.

“I am very pleased to report that I have returned from Washington with a commitment from the author of the bill and chair of the House appropriations subcommittee . . . Rep. Neal Smith, that the local sharing money for law enforcement will be restored to the budget,” Tuttle said at a City Hall news conference.

The bill called for imposing a one-year freeze on funds earmarked for state and local law enforcement agencies as their share of money and property seized during drug raids.

Assurance Cited

But Tuttle said Smith (D-Iowa) assured him last week that he had changed his position and would restore the money made available under the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984.

The budget measure, Tuttle said, was passed by the House but rescinded by the Senate, where it was opposed by both California senators, Republican Pete Wilson and Democrat Alan Cranston. It will be amended by a joint House committee where Smith, who heads the congressional delegation, wields enormous power.

“This money is not tax revenue that should be held up in favor of other programs,” Tuttle said. “This is money that allows the cities that have the most serious drug problems with the most effective drug enforcement programs to get the dollars they need.”

Tuttle said that because of a technicality in the Gramm-Rudman spending limitation bill, there was some doubt that the money could be used to help reduce the federal deficit.