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Arizona State Treasurer Dean Martin has turned tables on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, by sending her the bill that she originally invoiced the federal government for when she was governor of Arizona.

A press release from Martin's office states,

(STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX) – As Arizona Governor, Janet Napolitano submitted numerous invoices to the federal government for the cost of incarcerating criminal aliens under the State Criminal Alien Assistance Plan (SCAAP) from FY1994 to FY2008. Today State Treasurer Dean Martin announced that he is now pursuing those same claims with now Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

“The cost of illegal immigration has exhausted the Arizona State Treasury. In order to pay for the federal government’s responsibility of securing our national borders and incarcerating individuals who enter the United States illegally and commit crimes, the state has incurred hundreds of millions of dollars of debt to pay these bills,” said Treasurer Dean Martin.

8 U.S.C. § 1231(i)(2), requires that the federal government “provides for compensation to the State. . .with respect to the incarceration of the undocumented criminal alien” and the compensation be based upon “average cost of incarceration of a prisoner in the relevant State.”

As Governor, Janet Napolitano in her March 17, 2008 invoice said, “the federal government is required by law to pay these costs, but has failed to pay more than pennies on the dollar.”

“The updated invoice, including accrued interest, is over one billion dollars,” said Treasurer Dean Martin. “Illegal immigration has literally broken the bank here in Arizona. Napolitano is now responsible for securing our borders and is in a position to make good on the bill that she said the federal government owed. It’s time for this bill to be paid before legal remedies are pursued to recoup this long overdue debt to Arizona taxpayers.”

It was just a little less than two years ago that then-Governor Napolitano wrote on March 17, 2008, to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, "Since October 21, 2004, I have been submitting invoices to your office relating to Arizona's uncompensated costs for incarcerating criminal aliens under the State Criminal Alien Assistance Plan ("SCAAP"). As you know, the federal government is required by law to pay these costs but has failed to pay more than pennies on the dollar. As the service provider, the State of Arizona is left with the substantial unreimbursed costs... I hereby call upon you to either pay this invoice or take Arizona's SCAAP inmates into federal custody as requred by 8 U.S.C. § 1231(i)(1). Such funding is not only required by law, but also desperately needed to alleviate a burden that has been borne for far too long by the taxpayers of Arizona and the other border states."

Included in his January 4, 2010 cover letter for the invoice, Martin writes pointedly to Napolitano, "As Secretary of Homeland Security, you are now in a position to make good on this financial obligation. I appreciate your immediate attention to this matter and look forward to your prompt response before legal remedies are pursued to recoup this long overdue debt to the taxpayers of the State of Arizona."

District 1 Arizona Legislative Representative Andy Tobin, who is also the House Whip, agrees with Martin, but isn't sure that Treasurer Martin sent a bill that was large enough.

In response to an inquiry from Prescott eNews, Tobin writes in an email, "I commend Treasurer Martin for this effort. I suggest that a better option would be to work with the legislature in presenting a full accounting and presenting it in a more comprehensive and powerful manner that would include House/Senate/Executive endorsement and support. The billed amount should be fully audited and elected law makers should have the opportunity to review. I am concerned that the amount maybe significantly less than the Federal liability and I would prefer determing a cost that's is defensible so that we don't lose additional federal liability by accepting a payment or credit that may be lower than what Arizonan's deserve to recover."

Governor Brewer Will Be In Prescott on Wednesday

In other State of Arizona news, Governor Jan Brewer will be in Prescott this Wednesday, January 13, 2010, sponsored by the Prescott Valley and Prescott Chambers of Commerce. She will coming to deliver her "State of the State" address to our local community, after delivering it Monday to a Joint Session of the Arizona Legislature. (See: Local Chambers Host Governor To Discuss “State Of The State”)

Brewer will be at the Wyndham Garden Hotel at 12:00 pm. The cost to attend the lunch meeting is $25 per person. All reservations for this event are being handled by Beverly Oleson at the Prescott Valley Chamber of Commerce. Call 772-8857 to make a reservation.

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