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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neeka who wrote (414832)	6/13/2003 1:33:13 PM
From: Kenneth E. Phillipps	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Tax cuts are service cuts. California is laying of highway patrol officers because of the budget mess. The people of California are demanding less law enforcement. State budget woes may doom hundreds of CHP officers’ jobs By RAMONA TURNER Sentinel staff writer SACRAMENTO — The state budget crisis could cause hundreds of California Highway Patrol officers to lose their jobs. But how the proposed cuts might affect Santa Cruz County and the rest of the state remains to be seen. "Earlier this year, all the departments of state government were told to put together a plan that, if needed, would show how they would lay off 10 percent of their work force," CHP’s public affairs commander Tom Marshall said Thursday. "We thought we wouldn’t have to do any layoffs because of our homeland security and traffic safety mission." Marshall said 469 officers could get letters in the next two weeks saying they are "considered a surplus employee," and that they would be subject to layoffs. Another 370 behind-the-scenes officers, such as 911 dispatchers and truck inspectors, also would receive a letter, Marshall said, noting 300 such positions have been eliminated. Gov. Gray Davis’ office says no final decision has been made whether any law enforcement officers will be let go. If the CHP were forced to lay off 7 percent of its 6,500 officers, many of those assigned to nonpatrol programs would be put back on the road. CHP employees with about a year of service, as well as the 138 cadets who graduate today and 140 others who’ll graduate later this year, will be given 120 days to consider their options, Marshall said. It costs $17 million to train 138 cadets for 27 weeks. Locally, CHP spokesman Sam Courtney said it is too soon to tell how the proposed cuts might affect his office, which has 53 officers, including those who patrol the county and those in administrative positions. Statewide, one of the first things that might be scaled back is the anti-terrorist truck inspection program, which would go from 24 hours a day to 16. DUI checkpoints, drug-sniffing dog programs and narcotics task forces also are on the list. Locally, the Safe on 17 program, which boosts CHP presence on the mountainous portion of Highway 17 between Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties, could be spared. The three-year, $300,000 Safe on 17 project is funded by a partnership between the commission and the San Francisco Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission Service Authority for Freeways and Expressways, said Luis Mendez of the county Regional Transportation Commission. The money comes from a locally imposed vehicle licensing fee and may not be taken away by state lawmakers.

To: Neeka who wrote (414832)	6/13/2003 1:35:49 PM
From: Kenneth E. Phillipps	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

South Carolina joins California in demanding less law enforcement. Highway Patrol budget cuts means fewer tickets Associated Press GREENVILLE, S.C. - Budget cuts at the Highway Patrol mean fewer troopers on the roads writing fewer tickets and investigating more crashes. The patrol is set to receive about $37.8 million in the next budget year, which starts in July. That's a 30 percent cut from the patrol's more than $54 million budget three years ago. But next year's budget does have some good news. Lawmakers have placed an additional $100 fine for first-time DUI offenders, and placed a new $25 fine on traffic tickets that will be split among several justice agencies. The patrol is expected to make a total of about $4 million from both sources, said Don Royal, the Public Safety Department's chief financial officer. To save money, troopers have been offered retirement incentives, and 79 officers, including Col. Mike Kelley, have taken the deal. That means about 60 percent of the state's troopers have less than 10 years' experience, Kelley said. The number of tickets issued by troopers has declined about 20 percent each of the past three years because there are fewer officers on the road, Kelley said. Meanwhile, the number of wrecks in South Carolina climbed from 100,165 in 2001 to 108,280 in 2002. One way the patrol saved money in recent years was delaying pay raises for troopers who moved up in rank. Newly sworn-in Col. Russell Roark, who will take over command of the Highway Patrol in July, hopes to reinstate those raises next budget year. "One of our main goals is to catch our salaries up and then work on a plan to pay the people we have better so we can maintain our seasoned officers," Roark said. Budget cuts also have hurt the patrol's vehicle fleet. The agency bought 60 cars this year, down from 300 before the cuts, Kelley said. Old cars used to be rotated out at 80,000 miles and sold for about $6,000. Now the patrol is rotating them out every 100,000 miles and making less than $3,000 on their sale, he said. One way the patrol is dealing with budget cuts is to emphasize enforcement efforts on the most dangerous roads, Kelley said. "We're going to put these guys where they're having the most violations and the crashes," he said. "Hopefully, it will reduce these crashes so it will give these guys more time to do enforcement work." Information from: The Greenville News