Includes $600,000 for Fighting Meth in the Uinta Basin, Salt Lake City
WASHINGTON D.C. – Last evening, House and Senate conferees completed work on a spending bill that includes Senator Bob Bennett’s request for over $3.5 million for new space technology, law enforcement programs, and crime-fighting efforts in Utah, including $600,000 to target methamphetamine production in the Uinta Basin and Salt Lake City.
“Utah remains one of the top five states in the U.S. for meth production per capita. This is a discouraging statistic and something we must continue to address,” said Bennett, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “For seven years I have worked to help fund Utah’s fight against this growing and serious problem. I am pleased Congress continues to support this effort.”
Through the Fiscal Year 2006 Science, State, Justice, Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, Bennett secured $400,000 for the Uinta Basin to assist local law enforcement officials with meth-related requests and to purchase body-worn transmitters, communications devices, surveillance equipment, and mobile cameras. This is the first time the area has received federal assistance to fight this skyrocketing drug problem.
Since 1998, Bennett has secured nearly $6 million for local law enforcement agencies in 23 Utah counties. This funding is important to help ease the burden meth investigations have on rural counties’ limited budgets. Eastern Utah is particularly susceptible to these problems because of its proximity to major highways known for drug trafficking, and because criminals can establish meth labs in remote areas not frequently patrolled by law enforcement.
Both the House and Senate are expected to vote on the conference report this week. After passage, the bill will go to President Bush for final approval.
Additional Bennett-requested projects in the appropriations bill include:
Utah Valley State College (UVSC) Forensic Science Program $150,000
Last year, Bennett secured $400,000 to help develop a new forensic science program at UVSC, the first for any higher education institution in Utah or any contiguous state, except Colorado. Funding this year builds on last year’s appropriation and would be used for biology and chemistry equipment, computer hard and software, and forensic fire and aviation investigations equipment.
2 comments:
Perhaps Bennett can also fund UVSC dispatchers a raise! See what you can do about that, would you E?
i'll get right on it.
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