BILL NUMBER: SJR 12AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 30, 2009 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 22, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Senators Benoit, Aanestad, Ashburn, Cogdill, Cox, Dutton, Harman, Hollingsworth, Huff, Maldonado, Runner, Strickland, Walters, and Wyland (Coauthor: Senator Ducheny) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Blumenfield, Conway, Cook, Gaines, Jeffries, Knight, Niello, and Silva) JUNE 1, 2009 Relative to criminal aliens. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SJR 12, as amended, Benoit. Criminal aliens. This measure would urge Congress and the President to restore funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, The federal government has a legal and moral obligation to keep our borders secure and, if it does not, it should pay the state the full cost of incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens; and WHEREAS, Federal law states that when a chief executive officer of a state submits a written request to the United States Attorney General for reimbursement the Attorney General will either enter into a contractual arrangement that provides for compensation to the state to incarcerate the undocumented criminal alien or take the undocumented criminal alien into the custody of the federal government (8 U.S.C. Sec. 1231); and WHEREAS, The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program was created in 1994 for the purpose of reimbursing states for the costs of incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens; and WHEREAS, Federal law provides that the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program provide federal payments to states and localities that incur costs for incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens; and WHEREAS, Twelve percent of California's current prison population is composed of undocumented criminal aliens, with each inmate costing the state $48,536 each year; and WHEREAS, In fiscal year 2008-09, it cost the State of California over $970 million to house these undocumented criminal aliens; and WHEREAS, In fiscal year 2008-09 the State of California was reimbursed only $111 million from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, making up only 11 percent of the total cost to house these undocumented criminal aliens; and WHEREAS, The President of United States recently announced his intention to eliminate funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program in fiscal year 2010; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature respectfully urges Congress and the President to restore funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program; and be it further Resolved, That the Legislature urges Congress and the President to adequately fund the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program to fully reimburse states for the full cost of incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States. ____ CORRECTIONS Heading--Coauthors--Lines 5, 6, 7. ____