States have been shackled for years by the rising cost of keeping inmates in prison. Now they are planning a getaway.

In the final stretch of approving budgets for the next fiscal year, many statehouses want to save money by changing incarceration policies and closing prisons. Florida is set to bring in more private contractors to run its prisons while Ohio and Louisiana consider selling theirs.

More than 2 million people are in state and federal prisons and local jails, many in facilities funded by states. For almost all states, corrections is a rapidly growing expense...

Republicans in the Legislature on Thursday produced for the first time a detailed plan to balance California’s budget, relying on no new taxes but deep spending cuts, in particular for the state workforce, the mentally ill and the disabled –- and a dose of optimistic assumptions.

The plan, unveiled by Assembly Republicans only days before Gov. Jerry Brown will update his own budget blueprint, would fund public schools at the same level as the governor has proposed and avert further reductions to the state’s universities.

After months of brushing aside calls for a comprehensive package, Assembly Republicans stepped forward with a proposal that minority leader Connie Conway (R-Tulare) outlined in a letter she sent to Assembly Speaker John A. Perez (D-Los Angeles)...

With the state facing a fiscal crisis, its prison system has been forced to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from its inmate rehabilitation programs and expects to cut another $150 million in the coming fiscal year.

In the past two years, $250 million has already been cut from academic, vocational and substance abuse programs for inmates and parolees.

The cuts represented a third of the overall budget for adult programs, and resulted in 126 layoffs of program staffers, most of whom were teachers, according to the state Department of Corrections...

California has cut hundreds of millions of dollars from inmate rehabilitation programs during the past three years as it reduced its spending during the recession. Some examples of the reduced programs:

-The budget for adult rehabilitation programs was cut 36 percent to save $200 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2010. It was reduced to $364 million from $564 million the previous year.

-Another $50 million was saved the same year by delaying or reducing programs for parolees and female inmates...

Gov. Jerry Brown praised legislators for making "very tough cuts" as they concluded committee work Friday on his budget proposal, and said he still hopes that his plan to extend current taxes will get on the June ballot.

Earlier, the two legislative bodies wrapped up work on their own versions of the budget, setting up what's expected to be intense negotiations in the days ahead as they strive to meet Brown's goal of $12 billion in cuts and $14 billion in tax extensions to resolve the state's $26.6 billion deficit.

Brown said he wants a deal in place by March 10...

Amid a $25-billion state budget deficit, the state Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review sought to improve transparency and contain costs in the state’s prison system during a hearing Wednesday in the Capitol.

The Committee questioned the head of state prison health care services, Receiver J. Clark Kelso, about dramatic increases in costs and staffing levels in state prisons related to inmate medical care, exorbitant salaries and expenses by consultants to the Receiver’s Office, and a high-priced contract the Receiver signed with a health care provider whose costs remain secret.

The Committee voted on a bi-partisan basis to develop legislation to improve transparency in health care contracting and to seek further review of staffing and consultant costs...

Gov. Jerry Brown’s bid to abolish the state youth prison system could save hundreds of millions of dollars and quicken the pace of reform at county facilities. But the changes could remove important barriers that keep some juvenile offenders out of adult prisons.

Brown’s plan to close the Division of Juvenile Justice was part of drastic budget cuts he presented last week. If the budget is enacted, the division would stop accepting new wards and close by June 30, 2014, with any remaining offenders transferred to local jurisdictions. The state would save $250 million once the plan is fully implemented, according to the governor’s office...

Violent incidents at state prisons in Norco and Chino as well as recent state budget cutbacks have resulted in concerns being expressed by residents, local officials and corrections officers about the safety at these facilities.

The state plans to cut $1.1 billion from its corrections agency, according to a report from the state Legislative Analyst's Office.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration is already considering cuts to corrections officer staffing as well as implementing a 12-hour workday for the officers in response to the shrinking budget...