Becerra defends Department of Justice budget requests to legislators

SACRAMENTO — Defending his request for additional funding against criticism from a legislative watchdog, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra told a legislative committee Thursday of his agency’s successes during the past year and said the Department of Justice offers a great “return on investment.”

Becerra urged the Senate Budget Subcommittee 5 to approve millions in new money for antitrust enforcement, tax recovery and gambling control. All are scheduled for increases in Gov. Jerry Brown’s draft 2018-19 state budget, even though the agency’s overall budget is slated to stay about the same as last year.

Becerra made an unusually long appearance in committee for a statewide elected official, sparring with lawmakers over topics like the Armed and Prohibited Persons System backlog for 90 minutes. He touted successes during the past year, such as shutting down “online brothel” Backpage.com and catching up on the backlog of rape testing kits.

He also repeatedly argued the Department of Justice was a good steward of funds. For instance, he cited a $125 million settlement with the Royal Bank of Scotland for fraud committed during the financial crisis.

“Our costs in this case were less than one percent of what we recovered,” Becerra said. “I’ll put that return on investment up against anyone.”

It probably wasn’t a coincidence that Becerra repeatedly referenced the agency’s ability to recover money. The Legislative Analyst’s Office, or LAO, has placed a “hold” recommendation on several of the budget requests for the agency and urged the Legislature to fund just one year of the each budget expansion until Becerra’s office can prove it is using the money effectively.

For instance, Brown’s draft budget calls for the department’s Antitrust Law Section to receive an additional $14.2 million and 23 positions over the next four years. But the LAO recommendations quoted in the committee agenda recommends that lawmakers fund just $1.8 million and nine positions for one year and then “monitor the impact.”

“It is also unclear whether all of the requested positions will generate enough revenue for the Attorney General Antitrust Account to support themselves,” the LAO report stated. “According to DOJ, only 20 percent to 25 percent of investigated cases currently turn into litigation with the potential to generate revenue for the Attorney General Antitrust Account.”

Becerra pushed back, stating it can be difficult for his office to show an immediate return on investment on new funding. Staffing up is a major issue, he said, particularly when some current positions only have temporary funding.

“It’s important to note we are doing all of this important work without competitive salaries for our people,” Becerra said.

He said that in just over three years in operation, the department’s Tax Recovery and Criminal Enforcement Task Force has recovered $14.5 million in unpaid taxes “with more on the way.”

Later, after citing recent actions against bogus charities and illegal gambling operations, he said, “We’re in the thick of the fight against white-collar crime.”

Lawmakers often pass budget items over the LAO’s objections. But the committee chair, state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, stated repeatedly that she wanted more answers from the agency over why it needed new funds. She said she was keeping the antitrust, gambling and other white-collar items open until Brown delivers his May budget revision.

One area where she wants more answers: how much does the department need for ongoing costs in these areas versus addressing longstanding backlogs. For instance, she asked representatives of Becerra’s Bureau of Gambling Control for a better breakdown of what it has accomplished with 12 new positions granted on a temporary basis three years ago.

“Why are we providing permanent positions for a backlog that, once we get over it, will not have that same workload?” Skinner asked.