Faced with billions of dollars in deficits, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a stark state budget on Thursday, including 10 percent cuts in most departments, early release for thousands of inmates and the closing of dozens of state parks.
The governor also declared a fiscal state of emergency, sending the Legislature into a special session for 45 days to find a way to make up the current deficit of $3.3 billion.
As you might expect, the housing turmoil is playing a big role in this crisis. And if a $3.3 billion deficit sounds dire, get ready for a bumpier ride.
The worst fiscal news may yet come. State projections show that the deficit will increase to $14.5 billion by summer 2009.
Few departments are spared in the governor’s budget. Forty-five parks would be completely or partly closed, including those with redwoods, waterfronts and historical sites. Officials expect layoffs in some agencies. Among those losing their jobs are lifeguards on state beaches.
Education, which generally counts for 40 percent of the budget, would lose $4 billion. The state’s well-regarded university system would receive $109 million less than last year.
Perhaps the most controversial plan would reduce the crowded prisons by 22,000, a move that would involve early release and relaxed parole requirements to take effect as soon as this summer.
State prison officials said those releases, which would require approval by the Legislature, would not include anyone convicted of serious, violent or sex crimes or anyone who had been violent in prison.
Echoing the concerns of many lawmakers, Speaker Fabian Núñez of the Assembly said releasing prisoners could “put the public at risk.”
Reducing crowded prisons is a smart move, even if the state wasn't bogged down in a financial mess. And it's doubtful that it puts the public at risk if these inmates were not convicted of serious or violent crimes. Just take a wild guess at why the bulk of those non-violent inmates are serving time. I'm guessing a chunk of them are serving time for marijuana-related convictions and they never should have been sent to prison in the first place.
By the year 2000, there were 458,131 drug offenders incarcerated in America's prisons and jails – approximately the size of the entire US prison and jail population of 1980. This means that nearly one in four (23.7%) prisoners in America is incarcerated for a non-violent drug offense. Contrary to the public perception that the incarceration of violent offenders has driven America's prison growth the major group responsible for the overcrowding of California's prisons is non-violent drug offenders.
It's clear this problem is not limited to California. This is a national disgrace.
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