Political Landscape:

As part of a $555-billion spending bill passed Wednesday by the U.S. House, the city of Glendale and three local Glendale or Burbank institutions are poised to receive about $1.1 million in federal funds next year.

As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, whose district includes Glendale and Burbank, helped secure funds for the Glendale Adventist Medical Center’s emergency room, a rail crossing safety improvement project in Glendale and science education outreach at Glendale Community College.

“These funds are vital investments in our community that will support local emergency care, education and safety,” Schiff said in a statement.

“They will make our community a safer, healthier and more prosperous place to live.”

The funding was included in the Foreign Operations Appropriations/Consolidated Appropriations bill, which is also known as the omnibus appropriations bill for the fiscal year 2008.

The bill awaits the president’s signature or veto.

If the bill is approved, Glendale Adventist Medical Center is set to receive $359,000 for renovations that would double the size of its emergency room, Schiff’s office said.

The city of Glendale has also been tapped to receive $490,000 to improve safety at railroad crossings on Broadway, Grandview Avenue and Sonora Avenue. Metrolink, Amtrak and Union Pacific operate passenger and freight trains on these tracks daily.

The funding would be used specifically to help prevent accidents at railroad crossings by upgrading railroad circuits and railroad warning devices and installing an advanced preemption system, Schiff’s office said.

“This money will go to critical crossings in Glendale that will add to increased safety and mobility for residents and commuters who must cross the tracks to get to their homes and to work,” Glendale Mayor Ara Najarian said.

The bill also includes $235,000 to help Glendale Community College expand its Cimmarusti/NASA Science Center outreach program.

The center already features a digitized planetarium; an advanced chemistry lab; seismographic and global-positioning system stations for earthquake and weather study, with real-time links to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech databases; and a kindergarten through 12th-grade outreach workshop center.

The center seeks to improve science and math education for elementary and secondary schools in the Los Angeles area by serving as a resource and assistance center, Schiff’s office said.

The Youth Mentoring Connection, a nonprofit that works in Burbank and Pasadena to steer at-risk youth into job opportunities and education, is also tapped in the bill for funding.

If approved, the bill would allocate $70,500 to facilitate mentoring of at-risk youth with successful professional mentors.