Poochigian Wins District Funding in Budget Deal

Budget Proposal Reverses Rural Crime Prevention Cut, Includes Pre-1977 School Bus Replacement Funding

The budget agreement reached this week between the Governor and legislative leaders funds two programs vital to Central California that Senator Chuck Poochigian (R-Fresno) has been strongly advocating.

The agreement reverses a $1.9 million cut to the Central Valley Rural Crime Prevention (CVRCP) Program that had been recommended by the Department of Finance and was included in the Joint Legislative Budget Conference Committee Report. It also includes $25 million for replacing or retrofitting school buses that do not meet federal safety requirements or state air quality guidelines.

Central Valley Rural Crime Prevention Program

Central Valley law enforcement officers and local elected officials worked hard to restore what would have been a devastating cut to the Rural Crime Prevention Program. Their efforts to salvage funding for this highly successful program paid off in this budget agreement,” said Senator Poochigian, who authored legislation creating the CVRCP Program in 1996, and is currently carrying legislation to extend the program (SB 453).

The CVRCP Program has helped to establish a multi-agency task force in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare counties. The task force includes representatives from county sheriffs’ departments, district attorneys’ offices, and agricultural commissioners’ offices. The eight counties that comprise the CVRCP Program contribute 60 percent of California’s total agricultural production, making the Central Valley the richest agricultural producing region in the world. The program has been hailed by law enforcement officials across the nation as a model, and is one of the only crime prevention programs specifically directed at rural areas.

Clean Air and School Bus Safety Program

The inclusion of $25 million in this budget agreement to replace and retrofit unsafe and unhealthy old school buses is an investment in our kids and our environment,” said Senator Poochigian. “Our efforts to get buses manufactured before 1977 that don’t meet student safety or air quality standards off the road will be bolstered by $12.5 million in this budget year. An additional $12.5 million will be allocated to retrofit old buses. While this is a good starting point, I will continue to fight for additional resources, so that the state can finally retire all 5,000 buses that don’t meet either safety or air quality standards.”

Senator Poochigian introduced the “Clean Air and School Bus Safety” Program (SB 698) earlier this year, which would have made replacing old school buses that don’t meet standards a priority. California is home to approximately 1,000 school buses manufactured before 1977 that don’t meet student safety or air quality standards, and an additional 4,000 made before 1987 that don’t meet state air quality standards. Poochigian’s measure to establish and fund the “Clean Air and School Bus Safety” Program stalled in the Legislature this year, though Poochigian is committed to getting these dangerous buses off of state roads through subsequent legislation.