FEDERAL BILL INCLUDES MONEY FOR COURTHOUSE IN FRESNO, METH FIGHT

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a spending
bill that includes $121.2 million for a new federal courthouse in Fresno
and money to fight methamphetamine.

The House approval, and similar action expected as early as today from a
crucial Senate committee, is the clearest signal yet that the long-sought
Fresno courthouse, to replace an older structure, is cruising toward
construction.

"It's great to get the whole ball of wax," said Rep. George Radanovich,
R-Mariposa, "and there's nobody thinking of taking (the money) out."

The federal court in Fresno serves a district that extends north to
Stanislaus County.

For the government's continuing war on methamphetamine, the funding bill
requires the Bush administration to provide at least as much money to
so-called High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas next year as they are
receiving this year.

That would guarantee roughly $1.5 million for the nine-county HIDTA now
fighting the Central Valley's meth trade.

California lawmakers were not able to win a guaranteed increase in funding
for the Central Valley anti-meth efforts. Instead, the influential House
Appropriations Committee is recommending boosts for anti-drug efforts in
such areas as Texas, Florida and Appalachia.

The Californians do expect, however, that the Bush administration's Office
of National Drug Control Policy will boost the Central Valley program by an
additional $1 million. The House is making such an increase a tad easier,
by boosting overall HIDTA spending nationwide by 12 percent more than Bush
wanted.

"We're optimistic," Rep. Cal Dooley, D-Hanford said of the added Central
Valley spending, "but it hasn't been carved in stone."

The 383,000-square-foot federal courthouse, proposed at Tulare and O
streets, has been a nonpartisan affair, with state lawmakers pressing it
both on its own merits and as a shot in the arm for Fresno's downtown.

"It's just terrific," Dooley said. "This is 99.99 percent done."

No known obstacle stands in the way of final approval for the Fresno
courthouse money. The $17 billion measure that includes the courthouse
money also funds the Treasury Department, the White House drug czar's
office and other federal agencies. Congress must pass the appropriations
bill to keep the agencies from shutting down Sept. 30. The Bush
administration has fully supported the courthouse construction proposals.

The bill also includes funding for courthouses in Texas, Illinois, Oregon
and Florida, among other states, and enjoys widespread support. The
proposed nine-story Fresno courthouse is far and away the most expensive of
the projects, and is ranked the top priority of the U.S. Judicial Conference.

"We're sailing along," U.S. District Judge Robert Coyle said earlier this
week. "We're in great shape."