State’s New Federal Clout

California has sought more federal dollars for years, mostly in vain. As governor, Republican Pete Wilson unsuccessfully sought an increase in federal compensation for imprisoning illegal immigrant criminals and other costs associated with failed border control. Nowadays, state water programs are being shorted, and California gets less per capita in homeland security funds than most red states.

At the moment, the stars seem aligned to change that. Well, some of that.

With Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) as the new chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Republican David Dreier of San Dimas heading Rules, and Republican Bill Thomas of Bakersfield at Ways and Means, Californians hold chairmanships of the Big Three committees. Beyond that, count a president who must be grateful to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for helping him carry Ohio. And Democratic leaders in the Legislature have pledged to work with Schwarzenegger to get the state’s “fair share” of aid from the federal government.

So what does the tab come to? The most commonly used figure is that the state gets less than 80 cents back for every dollar paid out in federal taxes -- a gap of more than $50 billion out of about $250 billion sent to Washington. It’s admittedly a fuzzy figure. The federal return includes matching funds for state and local government programs and education, the cost of running military bases, managing federal lands, the federal court system, the Border Patrol and salaries for more than 265,000 civilian federal workers in the state.

For years, the state got more than its dollar’s worth. That ended with the mass closure of military bases and the decline in aerospace and other defense spending in the 1980s and early 1990s.

But what’s a fair share? And just how much can Lewis do? There long has been an “anybody but California” attitude in Congress. The 53-member California House delegation has never been good at uniting behind California issues.

Dreier, not only chairman of the Rules Committee but a member of the House leadership, said there should be no expectation “that we’re going to take the Treasury and lift it up and just dump it into California.” The federal budget isn’t balanced either, and wealthy states like California usually send some percentage more than they get back. But Dreier acknowledges that Lewis is in a position to help prevent California from being so badly shorted.

It’s realistic to look for more transportation dollars and homeland security funds, as well as more help in cleaning up the air, one of Lewis’ pet subjects. This wouldn’t clear away the state deficit. But it would validate the newfound California clout and, a real bonus for the GOP, make California’s governor look even better in the eyes of voters.