Funds Slated for State Immigrant Programs : Social services: Clinton appeases lawmakers, proposes $646 million for California to ease burden.

Tossing a bone to California lawmakers, the Clinton Administration proposed Thursday spending about $646 million in 1994 to provide health and social services programs for the state’s immigrant and refugee population.

The California congressional delegation, state legislators and Gov. Pete Wilson spent the past few months lobbying for an increase in funds to pay for federally required services to immigrants and refugees.

“We certainly did very well considering the financial situation of the Treasury,” said Rep. Don Edwards (D-San Jose), the dean of the California congressional delegation who led the fight to recover the funds. “Naturally, we would have liked more because California does bear an unfair burden. But that is not reality.”

While the $646 million is less than the overall $1.45 billion in immigrant and refugee funds that Wilson claims the federal government owes California, it far exceeds the amount the Republican governor was able to wrench from the George Bush Administration over the past two years.

Last year, Bush suggested spending $300 million nationwide for immigrant services and the year before he proposed zero funding for immigrants. This shortfall placed a heavy burden on border states that were forced to absorb the cost of assimilating new residents.

California, more than any other state, has been affected by a huge influx of immigrants and refugees. The state is home to 1.5 million newly legalized residents, an estimated 1.3 million illegal immigrants and more than 600,000 refugees.

Overall, the $1.51-trillion Clinton budget would bring new money to California in several areas. It includes $77 million under the Ryan White Act for AIDs prevention and treatment in California cities hardest hit by the epidemic, an additional $42 million to help rebuild the state’s highways, $34 million for implementation of the landmark Central Valley Project Reform Act passed last year and $20 million in high-energy physics projects at Stanford University, according to Administration and congressional sources.

California also is expected to fare well under Clinton’s plan to distribute $52 billion over the next five years for transportation, environmental, technology and housing projects, said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

But the state also can expect to take some hits.

No money was proposed for the acquisition of National Park Service land in California, despite Clinton’s campaign pledge to buy more park and recreation property.

Los Angeles officials had hoped for $190 million in Metrorail funding next year, but the Clinton budget provides only $110 million.

Although the Clinton budget includes the $520 million in immigration funds and $126 million in refugee funds sought by California lawmakers, the Wilson Administration considers the reimbursement levels “disappointing and far short of the mark,” said H.D. Palmer, assistant director of the state Finance Department.

White House Budget Director Leon E. Panetta had strongly hinted several weeks ago that about $1 billion would be coming California’s way to offset the costs of illegal immigration.

“These figures seemingly do not track with those statements,” said Palmer.

When Wilson unveiled his $51.2-billion California budget proposal in January, the governor took a calculated risk by counting on receiving the $1.45 billion in immigrant and refugee funds from the federal government. Without the full amount, Wilson said, he would have no choice but to make further social cuts in his budget.

The cost of providing medical, welfare and education services to immigrants amount to more than $1.3 billion per year in California. This does not count the cost of incarcerating illegal immigrants, a $250 million expense the state is trying to recover from the federal government this year. Wilson also is seeking an additional $774 million in immigrant funds that would require changes in law making the programs a federal responsibility.