California Victim and Witness Coordinating Council
June 16, 2006
The Honorable Congressman Jerry Lewis
Chair, House Appropriations Committee
United States House of Representatives
2112 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-0541
Dear Congressman Lewis:
I am writing as President of the California Victim/Witness Coordinating Council (CVWCC), an organization that represents 59 victim/witness assistance programs throughout California. Last year, we collectively provided a wide variety of crisis and support services to over 130,000 crime victims of all types of crime in every California county. Once again, we are faced with the threat to redirect the VOCA reserve and urge the Appropriations Committee members to remove the budget item that would rescind over 1.2 billion from the Victims of Crime (VOCA) fund. In addition, to maintain the integrity and health of the VOCA fund, we request the Appropriations Committee to recommend an increase of the VOCA cap to $665 million excluding the Antiterrorism Emergency Reserve (AER).
Based on DOJ projections, the $625 million cap recommended by the Science, State, Justice, Commerce Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee would reduce state victim assistance grants by $36 million (9%) from FY06. To keep FY07 state VOCA assistance grants at its FY 2006 level, a VOCA cap of approximately $665 million is necessary. Furthermore, the proposal to include up to $50 million for the AER under the cap means a total VOCA cut of $83 million 21%) in FY07 state assistance grants. This is contrary to the VOCA statute and will drastically reduce local assistance available to crime victims around the nation. Adequate funding for victim assistance is essential to helping victims reclaim their lives following the devastating effects of crime and is what Congress intended when it created the VOCA fund.
On several past occasions, your Appropriations Committee has included language in your report directing DOJ to remove the AER from under the cap and we ask you to do so again. Specifically, we ask your committee to again include language that states “amounts retained in, obligated from, or used to replenish the Antiterrorism Emergency Reserve shall not be subject to any limitation on obligations from amounts deposited to or available in the Fund”.
Thank you for your past support in maintaining the integrity of the VOCA fund. We hope we can count on you to continue to do so now and in the future for the benefit of crime victims across the nation.
Sincerely,
Cindy Marie Absey
President, CVWCC
C: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Karen McGagin, VCGCB
David LaBahn, CDAA
CVWCC Members
Steve Derene, NAVAA
731 “K” Street, 3rd Floor, Sacramento, California 95814
(916) 443-2167