California is poised to damage its economic recovery in order to keep its prison system going
With the clock ticking on both this year's legislative session and a federal court deadline, lawmakers are poised to consider a budget amendment as soon as next week to finance the transfer of thousands of inmates out of state prisons.
"It will cut into our reserve," said Assembly Speaker John Pérez, D-Los Angeles. "It will slow down our economic recovery, because things that we would otherwise be able to fund that would help us expand the economy will have to be set on the back burner."
The exact amount of the special appropriation remains unclear as the bill is still being written, though Gov. Jerry Brown was quoted on Monday as saying it will be "hundreds of millions of dollars."
As a budget-related bill, the special prison funding could be passed by a simple majority vote in each house.
Legislators and the Brown administration are adamant that the state has no intention to release almost 10,000 inmates by the Dec. 31 deadline set by a panel of three federal judges. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to block that order on Aug. 2.
http://www.news10.net/news/article/255032/2/Legislators-to-spend-money-to-avoid-prisoner-release
And this is supposed to be a progressive state? Hundreds of millions to the private prison industry?
Good job, Jerry.