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The Legislature’s non-partisan fiscal analyst believes Gov. Jerry Brown is underestimating the amount of savings from Proposition 47, the controversial ballot initiative that reduced some nonviolent drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors.
The initiative required the savings be used for mental health, drug treatment, truancy and victim services. In a report issued Friday, the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated that the first deposit should be about $100 million more than what the state Department of Finance has accounted for.
In his January budget proposal, Brown set aside $29.3 million for the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund – $62.7 million in savings from inmate and caseload reduction, minus $33.4 million for resentencing and increased parole capacity.
The vast gap is mainly due to different methods for calculating prison costs. Thousands of inmates have been resentenced and released from state facilities under Proposition 47, pushing California’s overcrowded corrections system just under a court-mandated capacity.
Brown’s budget estimates that the average daily inmate population is about 4,700 fewer this year because of the law. But the Legislative Analyst’s Office noted that, to stay below capacity levels, most of those potential prisoners would have had to be contracted out to beds in other states, which would have set the state back an additional $83 million.
The LAO also said the governor is likely underestimate the savings from fewer felony cases being filed and overestimating the cost of reclassifying the records of former offenders who already served out their felony terms.
Via: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article60119951.html
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article60119951.html#storylink=cpy
In November, voters will be asked to weigh in on Proposition 47, which would reduce some petty crimes – such as shoplifting less than $950 worth of merchandise and possession of cocaine or heroin – from felonies to misdemeanors.
The goal of the initiative is to cut the state prison population, saving potentially hundreds of millions of dollars that would otherwise be spent incarcerating criminals. An estimated 40,000 offenders would be affected by Proposition 47 annually, instead serving time in county jails or facing no significant time behind bars. The savings would be used for truancy and dropout prevention programs, mental health and substance abuse treatment, and victim services.
Law enforcement groups oppose the measure, arguing it could hurt public safety, but have raised little for their effort. Meanwhile, big money is pouring into the yes campaign, including six-figure contributions from Public Storage executive B. Wayne Hughes, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, and Sean Parker of Napster and Facebook fame.
The state Senate and Assembly public safety committees will hold a joint informational hearing on Proposition 47, starting at noon in Room 4203 of the Capitol. After an overview from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, supporters including San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, and opponents such as Harriet Salarno, chair of Crime Victims United, will provide testimony on the measure.
via: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/10/02/6753371/am-alert-should-california-reduce.html
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/10/02/6753371/am-alert-should-california-reduce.html#storylink=cpy
A proposed ballot measure
to more than double California's vehicle license fee would raise $3 billion to
$4 billion annually for state and local transportation programs, according to estimates
by the Legislative Analyst's Office.
Both versions of the
proposed ballot measure by Transportation California would phase in a surcharge
to the fee, charging motorists an extra one percent of the vehicle's value each
year. The fee has been .65 percent of a vehicle's market value since the late
1990s, with a temporary increase to 1.15 percent from May 2009 through June
2011.
Transportation California's
Will Kempton,
a former Caltrans director, has said that the measure's supporters will decide
this month whether to commit the money to gather signatures to qualify the
proposal for the November 2014 ballot. Signature collection could begin after
the release of titles and summaries for the measure, which is expected Jan. 13.
Proponents would have up to
150 days to collect 807,615 valid voter signatures to qualify for the 2014
ballot.
PHOTO: Traffic runs
along the southbound 110 Freeway towards downtown Los Angeles, April 28, 2005.
Associated Press/ Mark J. Terrill
