| Last Updated: | 1/24/2011 |
| Budget Issue: | CDCR facility activation planning |
| Program: | Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation |
| Finding or Recommendation: | Reject Governor’s January 2011-12 budget request to provide the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation with 15.6 new positions and $5.1 million in additional funding for facility activation planning, given that existing resources are available to meet the increased workload. |
Governor’s Proposal. The Governor’s budget proposes a total of 15.6 positions and a $5.1 million General Fund augmentation for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) in 2011-12 to plan for the activation of new prison facilities authorized under Chapter 7, Statutes of 2007 (AB 900, Solorio). According to CDCR, four of these new facilities are scheduled to open in 2011-12 and are part of the department’s overall plan to provide constitutionally adequate care as required by the federal court in the Coleman v. Schwarzenegger case pertaining to inmate mental health care. (The Governor’s budget includes separate funding requests to support the operations of these particular facilities.)
Existing Resources Available to Accommodate Increased Workload. While CDCR has identified an increase in workload that will result from the planning for the activation of new prison facilities, our analysis indicates that the department currently has unutilized resources within its central administration budget that could be used for such planning activities. This is because the department currently has vacancies in several of the employee classification categories for which it is requesting additional positions and funding. For example, CDCR is requesting two additional program analysts in central administration despite the fact that the department currently has over 100 vacancies in this classification. Furthermore, in 2009-10, CDCR had $43 million in savings in its budget for central administration at the end of that year. The fact that the department has not spent all of its allocated funding for administration in the past suggests that there could be savings in other central administration functions that the department has not identified which could support the above facility activation planning activities.
Recommendation. In view of the above, we recommend that the Legislature reject the Governor’s proposal to provide CDCR with 15.6 new positions and $5.1 million in additional funding for facility activation planning.