Rep. Baird Helps Secure $Billions in Meth-Related
Federal Funding for FY07
Washington, D.C. - Congressman Brian Baird, a national leader in the fight
against methamphetamine, today helped secured billions of dollars for
meth-related programs in the Fiscal Year 2007 Science, State, Justice,
Commerce (SSJC) Appropriations bill that passed the House. This year's bill
provides $2.6 billion to assist state and local law enforcement in fighting
crime - a $1.1 billion increase above the President's budget request. The
bill is now headed to the Senate for its approval.
"The President's budget proposed 80 percent cuts to programs that our local
law enforcement rely on to fight meth. As a co-founder of the congressional
Meth Caucus, I helped form a bipartisan coalition that vigorously worked to
restore this critical funding. I am pleased to say that we were largely
successful. This is good news for our law enforcement and bad news for meth
dealers and cooks," Congressman Baird said.
The meth-related funding Congressman Baird helped secure in today's
appropriations bill includes:
. $570,545,000 for the Community Oriented Policing Services
(COPS) program
This is a 17 percent increase above the program's FY06 funding level ($478
million) and five times the amount President Bush requested for the program
in his FY07 budget ($102 million). COPS funding helps law enforcement
agencies across America meet an ever-increasing range of community policing
challenges, expand cooperation between law enforcement agencies, and enhance
public safety - all of which are crucial to the anti-meth fight.
Included in this year's COPS funding is $99 million for Meth Hot Spot
grants - a nearly $59 million increase above the President's budget request
for that program, and the exact funding level authorized in the recently
passed Combat Meth Epidemic Act of 2005, which Congressman Baird helped
write. The Hot Spots program is vital to a broad range of anti-meth
initiatives carried out by states and local law enforcement, and helps state
and local law enforcement stop meth cooks and deal with the toxic waste
created by meth labs.
FY07 COPS funding has been specifically earmarked for the Washington State
Meth Initiative and Washington State University's Outreach and Research
Center for the Study of Methamphetamine and Other Drugs of Abuse, although
specific dollar allocations for both programs have yet to be determined.
Funding for the Washington State Meth Initiative will help train and equip
additional law enforcement personnel and help the state's anti-meth efforts
reach additional counties and tribal jurisdictions. The Initiative received
$2 million in FY06. Funding for WSU's Outreach and Research Center will be
used hire two additional world-class faculty and associated research staff
to support and complement WSU's substance abuse research in Spokane.
. $635,077,000 for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice
Assistance Grants (Byrne-JAG grants) program
This is a 35 percent increase from the program's FY06 funding level. The
President proposed entirely eliminating the grant programs in his FY07
budget request. Congressman Baird also helped fight the Administration's
proposal to eliminate the Byrne-JAG program in FY06. Byrne-JAG grants help
state and local law enforcement agencies, including those in Southwest
Washington, fund important programs like meth task forces. The funding
level includes $445 million for JAG formula grants and $115 for
discretionary grants.
. $40 million for Drug Court programs
This is $30 million above the FY06 funding level. Drug courts handle cases
involving drug-addicted, nonviolent offenders through an extensive
supervision and treatment program. In exchange for successful completion of
the program, the court may dismiss the original charge, reduce or set aside
a sentence, offer some lesser penalty, or offer a combination of these. For
more than a decade, a number of drug courts have been extremely effective in
stemming the tide of addiction in some of the most meth-affected areas of
the nation. In Southwest Washington, Cowlitz, Clark, and Thurston Counties
all have drug courts.
. $1.963 billion for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
This is a $15 million increase from the President's FY07 budget request.
This funding includes $1 million to support the DEA's efforts to combat
international meth trafficking. Additionally, DEA will receive $20 million
under the Office of Justice Programs to assist state and local law
enforcement with proper removal and disposal of hazardous materials at
clandestine meth labs.
Today's SSJC appropriations bill included important language supporting the
DEA's effort to create a web site listing the addresses of properties where
meth labs or chemical dumpsites have been found. The web site will provide
owners and renters with notice that a property may once have been used to
produce meth and that there may be potential toxic hazards within the
property.
The bill also included language stipulating the new clandestine lab training
facility at the DEA Academy will be completed in the fall of 2007. This new
facility, funded in FY05, will improve DEA's ability to train federal,
state, local, and foreign law enforcement on the latest techniques in clan
lab detection, enforcement, and safety. DEA has trained approximately
10,500 law enforcement personnel since 1998 to conduct investigations and
safely dismantle seized meth labs.
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Congressman Baird co-founded the bipartisan Congressional Caucus to Fight
and Control Methamphetamine in 2000. The Meth Caucus' mission is to educate
other Members of Congress about the dangers of meth addiction and work
together on legislative approaches to solving the problem. Prior to coming
to Congress, Congressman Baird was a clinical psychologist who worked with
meth addicts, learning firsthand the destructive potential of the drug. |
