Record Public Safety and Judicial Pork Barrel Projects in California’s Largest State Budget

California’s largest state budget ever — $215 billion — is larded with a record number of local pork-barrel projects injected by individual legislators, often in exchange for “horse trading”  votes on passage of certain pieces of legislation. “Pork barrel” is a metaphor for the appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative’s district.

There is pork in every aspect of this budget as California Globe is reporting: General Government Augmentations in 2019-20 Budget, Education, Resources and Transportation, Health and Human Services, and Public Safety and Judicial pork. 

This final article will address the Public Safety and Judicial pork –  $116,474,000 million of extras:

• $2.5 million General Fund for the Shriver Act Civic Counsel.
• $2.8 million to the El Dorado County Courthouse Land Purchase.
• $2.5 million for the City of San Jose’s Emergency Operations Center
• $3 million for City of San Jose’s Fire Training Center
• $500,000 for the City of Lodi’s cybersecurity upgrade
• $5 million for the City of Los Banos’ Fire-Emergency Operations Center
• $550,000 for the City of Campbell’s Emergency Operations Center
• $4 million for the County of Santa Clara Fire Department Satellite Emergency Systems
• $4.5 million for Orange County’s First Responder Pilot
• $1 million for San Francisco firefighting emergency equipment
• $5 million to fund grants for prevention efforts of sexual and domestic violence.
• $5 million for the Office of Emergency Services to administer grants for K-12 schools, community colleges, and universities to acquire interoperable technology to respond to emergency events.
• $6.67 million to extend the Homeless Youth Emergency Services and Housing Program.
• $250,000 General Fund for district attorney training.
• $500,000 General Fund each year for three years to determine the scope of sex trafficking in Sacramento.
• $2 million General Fund on a one-time basis to ensure that law enforcement agencies submit sexual assault forensic evidence to a crime lab
• $854,000 General Fund on a one-time basis for DOJ for the costs of sexual assault evidence kit testing.
• $1.2 million General Fund to the cities of Baldwin Park, Azusa, West Covina, and South El Monte for public safety enhancements. The funding would cover costs associated with body-worn cameras and police technology upgrades to meet state-imposed requirements regarding police equipment.
• $5 million General Fund for a restorative justice pilot in San Joaquin County
• $3 million General Fund for a Gun Violence Reduction Pilot Program to support local law enforcement entities conducting activities related to seizing weapons and ammunition from persons who are prohibited from possessing them.
• $750,000 General Fund for an Illegal Dumping Pilot ($375,000 each to Alameda and Contra Costa) to enforce dumping laws.
• $3.75 million General Fund ($750,000 each to cities of Milpitas, Fremont, Newark, San Jose, Santa Clara) to the police department to address auto break-ins through a public awareness campaign, participation in a regional taskforce, and the purchase of non-biometric equipment.
• $1 million General Fund to the County of Imperial for the Sheriff’s Department to support the Medical Assistant program.
• $5 million General Fund to fund the transition of the Challenger Memorial Youth Center in LA County, into a residential vocational training center for young adults. (the Challenger Memorial Youth Center opened in 1990 to lessen crowding at other Los Angeles County juvenile facilities).
• $5 million General Fund for the Youth Reinvestment Grant
• $10 million General Fund for tribal Youth diversion efforts
• $250,0000 General Fund to the city attorney of San Diego for gun violence restraining order training
• $34.9 million ongoing to POST to restore the department to previous funding levels, provide training, and local assistance.  In 2019-20 and 2020-21, prioritize $20 million each year for use of force and de-escalation training. 

TOTAL: $116,474,000 extra Public Safety and Judicial pork barrel projects in the California Budget.

All of the pork in this budget as California Globe is reporting: General Government Augmentations in 2019-20 Budget, Education, Resources and Transportation, Health and Human Services, and Public Safety and Judicial TOTALS nearly $1.3 Billion in budget extras – items which were never vetted publicly, or debated in the public legislative committee hearing process.