Operation Fair Share : Why California has 55% of the problem and so little federal help

California’s Legislature has taken its lumps for not tackling this state’s tough budgetary problems as creatively or aggressively as it could, but occasionally legislators rise to an occasion. A noteworthy instance occurred last week when a bipartisan delegation from Sacramento went to Washington to lobby Congress for more federal financial aid to help assimilate this state’s large population of newly legalized immigrants.

Speaker Willie Brown led the group, which also sought federal assistance to help retrain California workers who will be laid off as a result of cutbacks in defense spending. They also asked for more federal job training aid for welfare recipients.

In making the unusual trip, state legislators closed ranks with--and provided valuable political backup for--the state’s congressional delegation. That’s important because, for the first time in a long time, the 45 people in California’s notoriously disorganized delegation on Capitol Hill have got their act together and are pushing for the state to get a big share of $1.1 billion that Congress set aside to legalize new immigrants under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

For a variety of bureaucratic reasons the money was not immediately spent, so Congress and the Bush Administration raided the pot for other programs. That badly hurt California, which is home to 1.6 million of the immigrants (about 55% of the total) legalized under the landmark 1986 law. This state needs all the help it can get to provide them with education and other services.

Now, after some resistance, Congress has agreed to restore the immigrant aid money--but that provides no assurance California will get its fair share. We probably won’t, barring a political miracle, such as our representatives continuing to work together. California politicians will always disagree on the many issues they must deal with, including other immigration matters, but this aid allocation is something everyone can support. And if we can do it for new immigrants, it could set a precedent for working together when other Californians need Washington’s help.