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March 16, 2010 - In February 2006, the federal court in the Plata v. Schwarzenegger case pertaining to inmate medical care appointed a Receiver to take over the direct management and operation of the state’s prison medical health care delivery system from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). In this brief, we (1) provide a status report on the Receiver’s actions, (2) present an overview of state spending on inmate medical care, (3) analyze the various requests contained in the Governor’s budget for the Receiver, and (4) identify issues and recommendations for legislative consideration. Specifically, we recommend that the Legislature: require the administration to present at budget hearings a detailed plan on how its proposed $811 million in savings will be achieved; withhold action on staffing requests pending the submission and our review of the above plan; and, fund only the most critical IT projects in the budget year and delay funding for the less critical projects.
March 10, 2010 - Presented to: Assembly Select Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Hon. Jim Beall, Chair Assembly Select Committee on Prisons and Rehabilitation Reform Hon. Alberto Torrico, Chair
March 4, 2010 - Presented to: Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 4 On State Administration Hon. Mark DeSaulnier, Chair
February 3, 2010 - Presented to: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Hon. Denise Moreno Ducheny, Chair
January 28, 2010 - Presented to: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Hon. Denise Moreno Ducheny, Chair
January 27, 2010 - This policy brief examines the Governor’s special session proposal to generate additional state revenues from penalties imposed on drivers who are caught speeding through the use of automated speed enforcement (ASE) systems. In this brief, we outline how ASE systems would work, assess the administration’s estimate of new state revenues from this approach, and provide our comments and recommendations on the proposal.
January 26, 2010 - In his January budget, the Governor proposed a state constitutional amendment that would require reductions in spending on state corrections, with corresponding increases in spending for public universities. Beginning in 2014–15, the state would be required to dedicate no more than 7 percent of state General Fund spending to corrections and no less than 10 percent to public universities. We urge the Legislature to reject this proposal because it (1) would unwisely constrain the state’s ability to allocate funding where it is most needed each year; and (2) is unnecessary, as the state already has the ability to shift funding among programs without this constitutional amendment. Special session.
January 25, 2010 - As part of the January 2010 special session to begin bringing the 2009‑10 and 2010‑11 budgets into balance, the Governor proposes statutory changes to reduce the state’s inmate and parolee populations. Specifically, the Governor proposes to require that offenders who have no prior serious or violent offenses and are convicted of certain property and drug felony crimes serve a maximum sentence of one year and one day in county jail in lieu of a state prison sentence. The administration estimates that, if approved by March 1, 2010, these changes would reduce state correctional costs by $25.2 million in 2009‑10 and $291.6 million in 2010‑11. In this brief, we (1) analyze the Governor’s proposal, particularly in the context of recent policy actions to reduce the inmate and parole populations, and (2) recommend modifying the Governor’s proposal to permit counties to place additional jail inmates on electronic home monitoring.
January 20, 2010 - Presented to: Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review Committee Hon. Hector De La Torre, Chair
November 30, 2009 - Presented to: Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration Hon. Mark DeSaulnier, Chair and Senate Public Safety Committee Hon. Mark Leno, Chair
October 28, 2009 - Presented to: Assembly Committee on Public Safety
October 28, 2009 - Presented to: Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review Committee
June 2, 2009 - Presented to Budget Conference Committee
May 29, 2009 - In this four-minute video, analyst Paul Golaszewski summarizes the LAO report Achieving Better Outcomes for Adult Probation.
May 29, 2009 -
We conclude that opportunities exist to both improve public safety and reduce state costs by better aligning the county probation and state correctional systems. We recommend that the Legislature create a new program that would provide financial incentives for county probation departments to reduce their revocations to state prison. Even if the number of probation violators sent to state prison was reduced by as little as 10 percent, state corrections operating costs would be reduced by about $60 million annually when fully implemented.
(Short video summary)