Posted on 02/09/2006 12:09:05 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Among the many pieces in the governor's ambitious $220 billion infrastructure investment plan, nothing screams Republican red meat quite like the prison bond. But strangely, the administration has not been able to find a Republican in the Senate to sponsor the governor's proposal for $6.8 billion in state borrowing to build new county jails and state prisons.
In another twist, the bond is currently being opposed by the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, an organization that usually aggressively backs efforts to build new prisons. The opposition from CCPOA may be part of the reason the bond has not found a Senate author. One obvious candidate to carry the measure would be Sen. Charles Poochigian, the ranking Republican on the Senate Public Safety Committee. But Poochigian is running for attorney general, and may be wary of sponsoring a measure that is opposed by the powerful, and politically generous prison guards' union.
Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Julie Soderlund said because of "policy changes" introduced in the bond "there was not the time to have all the appropriate discussions on the Senate side." But she downplayed the significance of the lack of a Senate sponsor, noting that the issue would ultimately be resolved in a conference committee.
But the lack of a Senate Republican author underscores a larger theme in many of the governor's ambitious infrastructure proposals--much like the governor's other infrastructure proposals, his $6.8 billion plan for new state prisons and county jails has received criticism from both the left and the right.
Democrats have taken their traditional stance of balking at new prison and jail construction, citing more pressing needs for transportation, schools, hospitals and levees.
Meanwhile, law enforcement groups including CCPOA which opposed the governor's agenda during the special election, has criticized the bond as "too little, too late" while county officials say the governor's proposal demands too much local money.
But there is some bipartisan support for the measure as well. Assemblyman Juan Arambula, D-Fresno, has agreed to author the governor's prison bond in the Assembly.
The governor's plan is a two-part jail and prison bond, part of which would come before voters in 2006, and part in 2010. In 2006, voters would be asked to approve $2.6 billion, most of which would go to county jails. Local officials would be expected to match the state dollar for dollar to build new beds in county facilities. In 2010, an additional $4.2 billion in bonds would come before voters for new county jail and state prison construction.
Among the most controversial parts of the governor's plan is the funding mechanism for building new beds in county jails. The administration is hoping to move some state inmates into county facilities toward the end of their sentence, and offering to pay for those new beds. But local jails would not qualify for any general obligation bond money unless local governments found a way to match the state money with their own money to build new beds for county inmates.
"We think there needs to be some changes to the proposal," says Steve Szalay executive director of the California State Sheriffs Association. "We're very happy about out the $4 billion in GO bonds and the idea of a match, but a 100 percent local match is too high." Szalay says the idea of "building state cells in local jails is worthy of discussion but shouldn't be the condition to get [state bond] money."
Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer says the funding formula for building new beds was "just a way to take a creative look at the need for beds" in the state prisons and county jails. The fact is, our prisons and jails are overcrowded, and this is something the state has to address."
Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, will chair an informational hearing Tuesday about the prison bond featuring members of the administration, law enforcement officials, academics and the legislative analyst. But Migden blasted the administration proposal, not only on policy grounds, but for what she called the lack of attention to detail paid by the administration in crafting this, and other infrastructure proposals.
"All of these bonds were very poorly crafted and slapped together at the last minute," said Migden. "This, to me, is a very sloppy and unthorough effort."
Migden dismissed the prison bond as a pawn introduced by the administration to help shape final negotiations on the overall infrastructure package. The governor introduced the measure, even though he knew there was little chance Democrats would vote to place the bond on the ballot.
"It's certainly insincere to submit it," she said. "It's just a little bit of manipulation without substantive intent."
CCPOA's Lance Corcoran says his union desperately wants new prisons to be built, and says the governor and Democrats have taken a "head in the sand approach" to prison construction. But instead of praising the governor's effort to at least chip away at the state's overcrowded prisons, he teed off on the administration in a letter sent to Arambula last week.
"Every plan put forward by the administration to deal with the prison population problem has been a miserable failure," he wrote. "Allowing them to delay much-needed prison construction projects until they are out of office is an unreasonable approach to this problem."
But Palmer says the approach is a reasonable one, given the current political climate. Building new prisons "is never going to have the appeal of building highways, but it is something we have to do," he says.
Deport all the illegals in jail and prison,, then we'll consider it.
And if we do build more, will they need to be "Green" compliant as well and thus more expensive to build in and of themselves?
He's got the dems carrying his Toll Road legislation.
You'd think he could find another one to carry this (in the interest of "bipartisanship," of course.)
I'm curious whether we'll see GeoGroup and Civigenics arise again.
Easier than that. Transfere them from county jails and state prisons to federal institutions! Problem solved.
The feds can either deport them or practice more catch and release.
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