SACRAMENTO —
Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to buy the state time to fix its prison crisis by
expanding the system would once again put state funding of prisons ahead of
state spending on higher education.
The governor's three-year proposal
would bring California's corrections budget to $11.5 billion for the current
year.
The state currently allots $11.4
billion for higher education.
A spokesman for Brown's Finance
Department disputed the comparison, saying that if only general fund money is
counted, and not other state funds, higher education still comes out on top.
The largely symbolic comparison is
considered by some to be an important demonstration of fiscal and political
priorities. Assembly budget Chairwoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) said last
week — before Brown announced a $315-million prison expansion — she was proud
that California had finally made locking up people secondary to investing in
their futures.
Prison spending fell behind higher
education in the budget Brown signed in June for the first time in three
years.
Brown described his plan to lease beds
for 9,600 more inmates as "short-term," to expire in three years.
Whatever capacity California buys, it may have to buy more.
Weekly population reports from the
corrections department show that the state's inmate count is again creeping
upward. After dramatic population drops in 2011, it has climbed steadily all
year, from 132,296 in February to a current population of 133,428.
Brown has expressed concern that county
prosecutors and judges are working out ways around the new sentencing laws to
send criminals to prison instead of jail.
“So many [district attorneys] are
upcharging, prisons are rising faster than they were a year ago,” Brown told
The Times in an earlier interview, saying that he was meeting with prosecutors
to understand the problem.
By Paige St. John and Anthony York
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