Mosquito Funding Dead in the Water?

SACRAMENTO -- A dead bird in San Jose tested positive for West Nile virus Wednesday, evidence that the mosquito-spread infection exists in Northern California.

Until this week when the virus was detected in a pool of mosquitoes in Kern County, it had been concentrated in San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles counties in Southern California.

News of the spread came as three Democratic state lawmakers launched efforts to protect funding for mosquito abatement districts, which are bracing for deep budget cuts while combating California's West Nile virus outbreak.

Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, and Assembly Members Nicole Parra, D-Hanford and Dario Frommer, D-Los Angeles, sent letters to Gov. Schwarzenegger, asking that he preserve funding for such districts given the recent spread of West Nile.

Mosquito abatement districts could lose up to 25% of their funding under a local government financing deal that is holding up the state budget.

Some lawmakers worry that the cuts could jeopardize the fight against West Nile, and they are urging state government not to downsize funding for the districts, which protect people from diseases spread by mosquitoes.

"I don't like the fact that we're just on the verge of a West Nile breakout and we won't put [a few] million dollars for our mosquito abatement districts" in the budget, Florez said. "It's alarming to me that our priorities are set on issues that are not as immediate."

Blood bank officials in Bakersfield said Tuesday that a former Bakersfield television anchor may be the first person in the San Joaquin Valley with West Nile virus. Two samples from a blood donation made by Don Clark tested positive for the infection last week. Blood bank officials are waiting for results from two other tests before they can confirm the mosquito-borne virus.

Kern County health officials said West Nile virus had been detected in mosquitoes in Arvin and Bakersfield this week. And a dead Western scrub jay found this month in a northwest Bakersfield back yard died of the virus, the officials said.

Under the budget agreement reached in May between Schwarzenegger and local governments, the state would take $2.6 billion over the next two fiscal years from local treasuries in exchange for the governor's support of a constitutional amendment that would protect their coffers in future years.

Special districts would take a $350 million hit each year, about $12 million of which would come from mosquito control districts.

But Democrats balked at the local government plan, saying it would not give the state any options during fiscal emergencies. They offered their own proposal, which Florez said would limit the grab from mosquito abatement districts to 10% of their funding.

In his letter, Florez urged Schwarzenegger to approve the smaller money shift: "This lower reduction will allow mosquito abatement districts to maintain more staff support, carry out additional trappings of infected mosquitoes and implement public education programs needed to fight West Nile."

Parra and Frommer, in their letter, said the cuts would have a dire impact on statewide efforts to contain the mosquito-borne disease.

"These cuts could not come at a worse time," they wrote. "We are receiving reports daily of new human infections, and infected mosquitoes are rapidly moving north. We cannot afford to cut millions of dollars from districts that are the front lines of defense in our efforts to kill the mosquitoes that spread the virus."

H.D. Palmer, the governor's budget spokesman, said the Schwarzenegger administration is sticking by its agreement with local governments. In his May budget revision, Schwarzenegger added about $1 million to combat West Nile.

Parra and Frommer, though, said it is not enough. "Funding [Department of Health Services] surveillance alone will not control this outbreak," they wrote.

Catherine Smith, executive director of the California Special Districts Association, said she wants more money for mosquito abatement districts but does not want to cut into funding for other districts that provide park, library and fire services.

"The issue is not whether they get relief; it's whether they're exempted at the cost of other districts," Smith said. "That's the policy question for us. We would prefer them to get some relief but from another funding source."

Florez hopes to do that with a new bill that would temporarily increase the "mill fee," which is assessed on pesticide sales in California. The fee increase could raise more than $10 million to help California communities fight the spread of West Nile virus.

Florez plans to introduce Senate Bill 707 this week.

Smith had not seen the legislation but said a funding mechanism to offset cuts associated with the local government deal would be helpful.

Steve Beckley, president of Western Plant Health Association, which represents the the crop protection and fertilizer industry, also had not seen the new legislation but had immediate concerns.

"My initial concern is we're using a shotgun approach for something that needs a more direct approach," he said.

The state Department of Pesticide Regulation depends on the mill assessment and various fees to support pesticide regulatory programs.

Leaders of local mosquito abatement districts said they welcome Florez's efforts but would prefer to be exempt from state financial poaching.

"I'd much rather have the state let us have what we traditionally get," David Farley, district manager of Fresno Mosquito and Vector Control District, said of the property taxes his district receives.

If Schwarzenegger's local government plan is approved, Farley's district stands to lose nearly $200,000 a year for the next two years. The district would have to lay off half of its full-time technicians.

Said Farley: "They couldn't have picked a worse time."