Federal Funds

Earlier this month Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa went to Washington in his capacity as president of theU.S. Conference of Mayors and scolded the federal government for its chronic underfunding of cities. He came home in time for the release of an audit report criticizing his administration for leaving hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money on the table. Why? In some cases, the city departments the mayor oversees simply failed to apply. Did Villaraigosa mess up? In this case, perhaps not. Let's be clear: The mayor's administration has been terrible at collecting money.

If California starts building a 130-mile segment of high-speed rail late this year as planned, it will enter into a risky race against a deadline set up under federal law. The bullet train track through the Central Valley would cost $6 billion and have to be completed by September 2017, or else potentially lose some of its federal funding. It would mean spending as much as $3.5 million every calendar day, holidays and weekends included -- the fastest rate of transportation construction known in U.S. history, according to industry and academic experts.

The California Department of Education must return a $6-million federal grant intended to help develop a database to track teacher and administrator information, officials said Thursday. The funds had been earmarked for the data system, which would have collected such information as which courses a teacher had taught and what credentials he or she held. Gov. Jerry Brown cut $2.1 million for the program from the state budget, although he did not ax any funding for a similar database for students.

If the healthcare reform law is thrown out by theU.S. Supreme Court - as many fear could happen based on the comments of conservative justices - more than 700,000 low-income Californians could lose a once-in-a-lifetime chance to obtain affordable health insurance. At stake is what's known as a Basic Health Plan. This is a system provided for by the reform law, fully funded by the federal government, that would extend coverage to people who may not be able to afford conventional insurance policies but don't qualify for Medi-Cal.

In a mostly party-line vote, the House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday that would permanently bar NPR from receiving federal funds, the latest escalation in conservatives' campaign against the broadcaster. Republicans already voted to eliminate all federal support for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for the current fiscal year, which helps public stations buy NPR programming, but the provision was not incorporated into the continuing agreements that have kept the government funded.

With little fanfare, President Obama on Wednesday signed an executive order that was the basis of a deal struck with anti-abortion House Democrats, whose votes were crucial to passing the landmark healthcare overhaul. Obama, coming off a day on which he made full use of White House pageantry to sign the healthcare bill, took a conspicuously low-key approach. No news photographers or reporters were allowed into the signing ceremony in the Oval Office. Nor did the White House circulate a statement confirming that it took place.

California's budget woes are threatening to cut off money meant to help the state's small businesses survive the recession, a Small Business Administration official said Thursday. John Mark Quinn, acting head of the federal agency's western region, said state funds that match federal monies slated for small business development are set to dry up next month — barring a last-minute agreement between the Schwarzenegger administration and the Legislature. The federal allotment for the small business development programs is a modest boost for California, just $12.5 million, Quinn said.

City officials hope to use a federal grant to help establish dozens of new businesses and train 200 residents to work in the new enterprises. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded Huntington Park the two-year, $280,702 grant after the April-May riots. The unrest resulted in about $7 million in damage to Huntington Park, with 94 businesses affected and four buildings destroyed.

The city is negotiating an exchange of Proposition A transit tax money for Federal Aid Urban funds. Since the half-cent sales tax was set aside in 1982 for use by cities to establish public transportation systems, Cerritos has collected about $1.6 million. The city must dispose of the money by July, 1987, or lose it under terms of the transit tax legislation, Cerritos spokesman Michele Ogle said. Because Prop.

Federal Funds took the lead nearing the stretch and won by a neck over Dibbs N' Dubbs in the $48,000 Zany Tactics Handicap on Wednesday at Aqueduct. The victory was the third in 29 starts this year for Federal Funds, who covered one mile on the fast track in 1:36 1/5 to earn $28,800 for owner-trainer Murray Garren. Robbie Davis was the winning jockey. The winning entry returned $12.80, $5.60 and $6.

SAN JOSE — Federal spending on clean technologies is drying up, with little sign of additional help coming from Congress, according to a report. As a result, more clean-tech companies are likely to go bankrupt or be consolidated, according to the study released Wednesday by the Brookings Institution and the Oakland-based Breakthrough Institute. In 2009, federal spending on renewable sources of energy reached an all-time high of $44 billion as one-time stimulus funding, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, pumped additional millions of dollars into clean technologies, according to the study.

A congressional committee has launched a wide-ranging examination of the California high-speed rail project, including possible conflicts of interest and how the agency overseeing it plans to spend billions of dollars in federal assistance. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), notified the California High-Speed Authority about the review Monday and ordered the agency to preserve its documents and records of past communications.

Just as scientists are announcing a breakthrough in their understanding of howAlzheimer'sspreads through the brain, robbing its sufferers of memories and cognitive functioning, the Obama administration is proposing a dramatic increase in federal funding for Alzheimer's research. The president's budget for fiscal year 2013 is expected to request $80 million more than the $458 million currently allocated. It calls for an additional $26 million in funds to help support families and others who take on the task of caring for people with Alzheimer's.

Karen Handel says she resigned as a vice president for Susan G. Komen for the Cure because she had become "too much of a focal point" in the controversy surrounding Komen's decision to cut its funding to Planned Parenthood -- a decision that, after a torrent of public outcry, was reversed within days. "I really felt I had a responsibility to step aside so that [Komen] could refocus on their mission," Handel told Fox News in an interview Tuesday. The resignation follows close on the heels of accusations that Handel, a former gubernatorial candidate in Georgia who campaigned partly on a promise to yank state funding from Planned Parenthood, brought that same intent to the Dallas-based Komen when she was hired as senior vice president of public policy in April -- an accusation that Handel denies.

Earlier this month Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa went to Washington in his capacity as president of theU.S. Conference of Mayors and scolded the federal government for its chronic underfunding of cities. He came home in time for the release of an audit report criticizing his administration for leaving hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money on the table. Why? In some cases, the city departments the mayor oversees simply failed to apply. Did Villaraigosa mess up? In this case, perhaps not. Let's be clear: The mayor's administration has been terrible at collecting money.

A week after a double tanker truck exploded and irreparably damaged the Paramount Boulevard bridge over the 60 Freeway in Montebello, Caltrans technicians set out to test soil samples needed before planners can design a replacement. Crews knocked down the overpass after the truck, filled with 8,800 gallons of gasoline, caught fire Dec. 14 and came to a halt directly under the bridge, which straddles one of the busiest vehicle corridors in the nation. A 10-mile stretch of the freeway was shut down in both directions for about two days, forcing commuters to find other ways to get in and out of downtown L.A. "It's a huge commuting corridor, and everyone agrees it needs to be reconstructed as quickly as possible," said U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Lakewood)

Three agencies in Ventura County with programs that aim to reduce student truancy have been awarded a total of $147,210 in federal funds, Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury said Tuesday. The largest sum, $83,171, will go to Interface Children and Family Services, which offers support groups and parenting classes for students and parents in Santa Paula, Fillmore and Piru.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to oppose a plan to withhold federal funds from projects that encourage coastal development as a way to cut federal repair bills due to storm damage. Federal funds for programs such as flood insurance, public works projects, sewage treatment plants and highway construction in coastal areas could be withheld if the plan is enacted, Supervisor Harriett Wieder told fellow board members Tuesday.

The Obama administration vowed Thursday at a House committee meeting in Washington that it would not back down from its support of California's bullet train project despite attacks from critics who alleged it is tainted by political corruption. "We are not going to flinch on that support," said Joseph Szabo, chief of the Federal Railroad Administration. Szabo said that his agency had committed itself to provide $3.3 billion for a construction start next year in the Central Valley and that federal law prohibits any change of mind about where to begin building the first segment of the state's high-speed rail system.

The U.S. attorney has launched a fraud investigation to determine whether Los Angeles city officials ignored federal laws designed to protect the disabled when building or fixing up housing. City Atty. Carmen Trutanich and the Community Redevelopment Agency received letters last week from the U.S. attorney's civil fraud unit instructing them to preserve records for housing developments that have received federal funds through the city since 1988 — a time frame that covers scores of projects.