State attorney general seeks to raise staff salaries

Attorney General Xavier Becerra says he needs to raise the salaries of some key, hard-to-recruit staff, including those tasked with confiscating weapons.

Becerra already directs a Department of Justice unlike anything seen at the state level in U.S. history. Gov. Gavin Newsom gave him about a $184 million boost last year in his first proposed budget, making him the first state attorney general to control a billion dollars annually.

The requested increase this year is more modest, $21 million. But speaking before the Assembly budget subcommittee in charge of public safety on Monday, he said much of the reason his agency needs more money is due to the Legislature itself.

“I want to thank you all for continuing the see the work of the Department of Justice as something important,” Becerra said.

Higher salaries are needed, he noted, to recruit and retain two keys groups of employees: staff in the department’s forensics laboratories, and those charged with removing guns from people on the Armed and Prohibited Persons System.

Becerra said his agency has 45 law enforcement agents tasked with removing guns from those who shouldn’t have them, or about one per 900,000 Californians. They frequently face situations where they are operating in rural areas, where they may be out-gunned with help far away, but get paid less than California Highway Patrol officers, he said.

“They are going to try to remove a weapon from someone who is either a felon or is dangerous,” Becerra said.

He also touted the work his agency’s forensic labs have done on cold cases and freeing wrongly convicted people. As an example, Becerra cited Paul Perez, who was linked via DNA to the killings of five of his infant children prior to 2002.

Becerra is requesting to close a laboratory in Richmond for many of the same reasons some technology startups are fleeing the Bay Area: high rent and difficulty hiring. He is seeking to move the lab to Sacramento and enter into partnership with Sacramento State University. The school could help train a steady stream of new workers, which he said is important because they typically hire a worker at 26 then see them leave for higher-paid industry work at around 37.

Other areas where his agency needs more money include enforcing California’s new online privacy laws, cannabis policy and gambling control. The agency also brings in billions for the state, he said, noting recent high-dollar settlements with Equifax Inc. and Sutter Health.

He heard some objections, mainly from Republicans on the subcommittee. Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, noted the Legislature gave the agency $24 million to address the gun backlog.

“The backlog is still at about 9,000,” Melendez said.

Becerra replied that the 2013 backlog is gone and the current list consists of newer cases. His office cleared about 800 more cases last year than came in, he added.

Assemblyman Jay Obernolte, R-Big Bear Lake, said officials in his district have often complained the approximately 75 lawsuits Becerra has filed against the government of President Donald Trump make it harder to get federal money.

“You guys, and I point at all of us, are complicit in souring our relationship with the federal government,” Obernolte said. “Every time we turn around, you’re at odds with them, you’re in court.”

Becerra replied the Department of Justice works with federal agencies all the time. When they do go to court, he added, it is often after the administration has tried to illegally withhold money over a dispute with the state. Earlier, he said litigating with the federal government “is about 1% of what we do.”