The Nation - News from Oct. 6, 1989

Senate-House conferees completed action on a spending bill that would cut $555 million in the current fiscal year from a fund that helps cities and states pay for the social welfare needs of newly legal immigrants. But the conferees heeded a plea from Reps. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) and Edward R. Roybal (D-Los Angeles) to restore the funds in fiscal 1992 and to allow its use to reimburse expenses incurred in previous years. Congress could delete the $555 million again in two years, Berman noted, but California and other states heavily dependent on the federal aid are in a strong position to retain it, since the money is written into the current legislation. Of the $555 million, $320 million would have gone to California. Los Angeles County would have received $160 million for adult education and indigent health care.