Forgive Martin Ryan for reflecting on what might have been, but a $42 billion shortfall that pushed the state to the brink of collapse and threatened significant funding cuts to law enforcement are why the Amador County sheriff supported Proposition 6.

That failed ballot measure would have redirected money from the state's general fund to various criminal justice programs. Netting just 30 percent of the vote last November, the initiative tanked, taking its promises of a stable revenue source for law enforcement with it. And now Ryan and local District Attorney Todd Riebe are preparing to bolster their budgets with the portion of increased vehicle license fees dedicated to local law enforcement.

After frustrating weekend sessions that failed to break the one-vote impasse, the California Legislature on Thursday sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a package of bills that raises taxes and cuts spending after an epic impasse that involved several all-night sessions. Included in the package was a .5 percent fee hike for licensing vehicles, projected to generate $1.5 billion in new revenue.

With a portion dedicated to law enforcement, local officials are hoping to prop up or maintain once-endangered crime prevention programs.

On Jan. 22, the California District Attorneys Association sent two letters to senior state officials protesting $56.2 million in proposed budget cuts to law enforcement funding. The reductions targeted six programs that would discontinue if cuts had been enacted, programs that are heavily relied upon by local authorities. For instance, the $14.6 million Vertical Prosecution Block Grant Program provides the sole source of funding for the elder abuse unit run by the Amador County District Attorney's Office.

With the budget package, Riebe still expects a 24 percent decrease in prosecutorial grant funding, but said that figure was much better than complete elimination of the program or the 42 percent reduction the state Emergency Management Agency (formerly Office of Emergency Services) tried to impose.

Like many other state programs, law enforcement took a 10 percent hit at the beginning of the fiscal year. Those losses were nearly compounded when the CalEMA attempted to eliminate additional block grant money the agency administers. The district attorneys association balked, arguing the agency needed legislative approval for such a reduction. DA's offices across the state, including Amador's, refused to submit modified budgets after these funds were threatened, Riebe said.

Now that that's over, Riebe hoped to restore some or most of the 24 percent shortfall with money available from the VLF increase.

"It's doubtful we'll get that money this year," Riebe said, "but (we could) next fiscal year - which is rapidly approaching."

The 2009-10 bookkeeping year begins July 1.

Riebe acknowledged "poking around the same areas as the sheriff" for available VLF money, a sum he said would go only so far. "We're not talking about a lot of money," he added.

The programs that could be restored, in part or fully, through increased VLF fees include a rural sheriff's fund that sends $500,000 to the 37 smallest counties, COPS money that brings $100,000 to each incorporated agency and CAL-MMET. Both Amador City and Plymouth use their COPS allocations to contract services with the sheriff's office.

"That's about a million dollars in my budget," Ryan said of the three programs. The loss of that money, he added, would impact about nine positions throughout his department.

Also on the governor's earlier chopping block was the Rural Crime Prevention Program, which allocates $3.7 million toward preventing agricultural thefts, as well as money to pursue sexual assault crimes and methamphetamine enforcement.

The last one, officially called the California Multi-Jurisdictional Methamphetamine Enforcement Team, or CAL-MMET, is relied upon by the county's Combined Narcotic Enforcement Team, which has seen an uptick in meth-related crimes in the area.

"CAL-MMET funds our narcotics task force, at least a large part of it," said Ryan, whose department administers the funding. The sheriff added that the allocations from this program have dwindled from about $250,000 to roughly $99,000 this fiscal year.

For his part, narcotics task force commander Jackie Long was optimistic about his unit's longevity. Fully funded for this year, federal grants and stimulus aid remained possible sources of future funding.

"I don't see the task force going away for a long time," he said. "I'm very confident we'll be fine."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.