Schwarzenegger
October 2, 2011
Former Schwarzenegger budget chief (Arduin) at center of privatization effort in Florida
The biggest privatization move in Florida history began when a nationally known government cost-cutter told the Senate's budget committee chief that, for the right kind of inmates, turning prisons over to for-profit corporations could save a lot of money.
Now, the state's plan to privatize 29 prison facilities in 18 counties is the hottest political, management and legal issue of Gov. Rick Scott's young administration. And he didn't even ask for it.
The Department of Corrections was scheduled to open bids this week to operate prisons in its vast Region IV — everything south of Hillsborough, Polk, Osceola and Brevard counties — but a circuit court judge last week stopped the move. The state has not decided whether to appeal Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford's findings that the Legislature illegally slipped the privatization mandate into proviso language of the budget...
LINK - Tallahassee.com
July 20, 2011
Sac Bee blogs about pending CCPOA furlough case
Prompted by our recent posts on the "special fund" furlough cases in the state's 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco, several blog users have called and emailed for the status on the fourth -- and legally distinct -- furlough case, CCPOA v. Schwarzenegger.
This gets a bit complicated, so hold on ...
Unlike the "special fund" cases before the 1st District Court, CCPOA won in the trial court by arguing that cutting their members' pay and then giving them the time off at a later date was a de facto pay cut...
LINK - Blogs.SacBee.com
June 1, 2011
Mike Jimenez speaks to Sac Bee about contract, cussing, CHP and continuing as CCPOA’s president
From the notebook: Mike Jimenez talks contract, cussing and continuing as CCPOA's president
We never get all of what we learn into a news story, but this blog can give users data, notes and quotes from the notebookthat informed what we published. This is the third in a series of posts spinning off "California Highway Patrol, prison officers compete for pay, respect," published on Tuesday.
Mike Jimenez, president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, sat down with The State Worker last month for a lengthy discussion that informed Tuesday's story in The Bee about CCPOA and its sometimes-contentious relationship with the California Association of Highway Patrolmen.
Over breakfast at Crepeville in Midtown Sacramento, Jimenez talked about Gov. Jerry Brown, battles with former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the union's future (including his decision to run for a third term, which we reported in this post)...
LINK - SacBee.com (The State Worker)
May 25, 2011
Inmates released under new law
[Note: In light of the recent CA Inspector General report documenting the improper release of 450 dangerous, violent inmates on non-revocable parole, you may be interested in reading what the Schwarzenegger administration said at the time the law they pushed for went into effect.]
A new law aimed at reducing the state’s inmate population took effect yesterday and had an immediate effect in San Diego County, where about 260 nonviolent offenders were released.
The convicts here — all doing time for offenses such as drug possession or petty theft — were let go under a provision that forces local officials to retroactively recalculate how they shorten sentences for good behavior and other credits.
Local law enforcement and court officials reviewed the files of 1,600 inmates, including those in county jails, to determine who should get out early, said Lisa Rodriguez, a deputy district attorney. Those convicted of serious, violent or sex crimes aren’t eligible for the accelerated credits, Rodriguez said...
LINK - SignonSanDiego.com (January 26, 2010)
December 28, 2010
Schwarzenegger promise to blow up boxes fizzled
It was the kind of over-the-top pledge Californians had come to expect from the Hollywood action star they had elevated to the governor's office in their unprecedented political revolt: Arnold Schwarzenegger wouldn't just rearrange the boxes of a bloated state bureaucracy, he would "blow them up."
The "Governator," who rode voter discontent into office during the 2003 recall election, said he would streamline a wasteful government to trim its cost, consolidate departments with overlapping responsibilities and eliminate unneeded boards and commissions.
As Schwarzenegger prepares to leave office in January, most of the boxes survive. Some have been rearranged, some have expanded, and at least one restructuring has been criticized for causing more harm than good...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
December 24, 2010
Schwarzenegger appoints wardens at CEN, CTF, FOL, and Mahoney as Supt. at Preston
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the following appointments:
Domingo Uribe, 53, of Wildomar, has been appointed warden of Centinela State Prison (CEN). He has been acting warden at CEN since 2009 and was previously chief deputy warden from 2008 to 2009. From 2005 to 2008, Uribe was correctional administrator at R.J. Donovan Correctional Training Facility in San Diego. From 2001 to 2005, he served as ombudsman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation headquarters. From 1995 to 2001, Uribe was a correctional lieutenant at Pelican Bay State Prison, where he previously served as a correctional counselor I from 1990 to 1995. He was a correctional sergeant at Richard A. MeGee training facility from 1988 to 1990. Previously, Uribe worked at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad as a correctional officer from 1983 to 1987 and a correctional sergeant from 1987 to 1988. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $129,108. Uribe is a Democrat...
November 12, 2010
Schwarzenegger: Lawmakers, voters get budget blame
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday pointed the finger at lawmakers and California voters for the $6 billion deficit in the state budget he signed just a month ago.
The Republican governor sought to deflect blame for the deficit, even though the rosy revenue assumptions he and lawmakers used were widely reported when they approved the $86.6 billion spending plan and Schwarzenegger signed it on Oct. 8.
"I think that the Legislature, as you know, did not finish their job the last time," he told reporters Friday. He said he proposed $12.5 billion in cuts, but they agreed to cut only $7.5 billion...
LINK - SignonSanDiego.com
October 18, 2010
Schwarzenegger blames CCPOA for pension-reduction delay
It was an unexpected glimpse at what went through Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's mind the night the fragile state budget vote was in jeopardy.
Schwarzenegger said in his weekly radio address that he was in his office at 2 a.m. when an aide told him fellow Republicans were blocking his pension reform measure; the governor was short Republican votes.
"You mean Democratic votes," Schwarzenegger said he told Legislative Secretary Michael Prosio. "He replied, 'No, no, no, no. We are short of Republican votes.' "
Schwarzenegger eventually prevailed, but not until dispatching his personal assistant, Daniel Ketchell, to Secretary of State Debra Bowen's house, knocking on her door at 3 a.m. to obtain a signature needed to call a special session of the Legislature...
LINK - SacBee.com
October 4, 2010
Memo: Today’s California Supreme Court ruling upholding the furloughs
At my request, our legal team prepared the following short summary of today's 84-page decision by the California Supreme Court:
The Supreme Court issued a decision today in three cases relating to the Governor and Department of Personnel Administration's ("DPA") February 2009 furloughs program on State workers. CCPOA was not a party to those cases, but the Court's decision may have some impact on cases we have filed on behalf of the members.
The Court ruled against the Governor and DPA on every ground they relied on for implementing the furloughs. The Court stated that there was no legal authority to take such action. Nonetheless, the Court ruled that the Legislature legitimized the furloughs through its February 20, 2009 passage of a revised budget...
October 1, 2010
A Guide to Furloughs Litigation
By Gregg Adam and Jonathan Yank
Despite rumors of a pending state budget deal—which may or may not end the present round of furloughs—Unit 6 members remains subject to the onerous terms of the Governor’s furlough orders and CDCR/DPA efforts to implement them. Employee salaries are reduced by 15% and—to add insult to injury—many (if not most) of our members actually work on their “supposed” furlough days...
September 30, 2010
Schwarzenegger vetoes prison cell-phone bill
September 30, 2010 - Despite threats posed by skyrocketing cell-phone use by prison inmates, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation Wednesday to make furnishing them such devices a misdemeanor.
The governor also rejected a measure that would have lowered the fine for motorists who make illegal right turns at a red light, saying the change from $450 per violation to $220 would send "the wrong message to the public that California is tolerant of these types of offenses." Cities, many of which use video cameras to enforce red light violations and charge the higher fine for turning right at a red light without coming to a full stop, had pushed for the veto...
LINK - SacBee.com
Related news - just a couple weeks earlier...
Attack on SC prison guard renews phone-jam debate
September 13, 2010 - South Carolina authorities who have helped push for permission to block cell phone signals inside prisons say an officer in charge of keeping out contraband was nearly killed at his home - in an attack planned with a smuggled phone.
Corrections Department Capt. Robert Johnson was getting ready to go to work at Lee Correctional Institution about 50 miles east of Columbia one day last March. Around 5:30 a.m., a man broke down the front door of Johnson's mobile home, shooting the 15-year prison veteran six times in the chest and stomach...
LINK - AP.Google News
September 13, 2010
Schwarzenegger Defends Asia Trip Amid Budget Deadlock
California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger defended his week-long business trip to Asia as needed to research high-speed rail options even as the state operates without a budget
“In each one of the countries that we go to, which is China, Japan and Korea, we are going to ride high speed rail and they all are going to be part of the bidding process in California,” Schwarzenegger said at the Netrepreneur Summit in Hangzhou, China, today. “It would be a mistake for California to think we can do high-speed rail ourselves.”
Hangzhou is Schwarzenegger’s first stop on a week-long trade mission to China, Japan and South Korea, even as he and state lawmakers fail to agree on how to eliminate a $19.1 billion deficit before the state runs out of cash. State lawmakers including Noreen Evans of Santa Rosa have called on Schwarzenegger to postpone the trip...
LINK - BusinessWeek.com
September 9, 2010
Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Challenge to Furloughs
Attorneys for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger argued to the California Supreme Court yesterday that the governor did not exceed his authority when he furloughed state employees and used his veto power to further cut budget appropriations already reduced by the Legislature.
The governor’s lawyers rejected arguments challenging Schwarzenegger’s Dec. 19, 2008 executive order which unilaterally imposed mandatory two-day-a-month unpaid furlough. They also said that the governor’s line-item veto power applied to provisions in a mid-year emergency bill that reduced appropriation amounts of a previously enacted budget bill.
The high court heard the arguments in proceedings in San Francisco broadcast live on television and on the Internet by public affairs cable television network The California Channel...
LINK - MetNews.com
August 18, 2010
Court Orders “Stay” of the Furlough TRO
Today, CCPOA was back in Alameda Superior Court regarding the new round of furloughs. The presiding Judge has taken the matter under consideration pending a possible ruling by the California Supreme Court.
As this was being written, the California Supreme Court issued a "stay" of the TRO issued last week, and granted the Governor's request for review. The case is set for oral argument on September 8, 2010...
August 12, 2010
Furlough Case Update 8/12/2010
Today at 11:00 CCPOA was in Alameda Superior Court for our TRO hearing regarding the newround of furloughs. As we were assigned to be heard in Judge Roesch's Court, the State exercised an objection and our case was assigned to another judge...
July 29, 2010
The State Worker: Schwarzenegger’s latest furloughs pick winners and losers
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Wednesday furlough order did something different: It picked winners and losers.True, his earlier furloughs and this one exempt the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the California Highway Patrol. Schwarzenegger considers them key public safety organizations and didn't want to dilute their resources.But his new order exempts six other departments. That's significant because the governor has always said that, to be fair, furloughs should be applied across the board...
LINK - SacBee.com
July 14, 2010
Schwarzenegger fights union involvement in minimum wage case
Attorneys for the Schwarzenegger administration on Tuesday filed a brief in Sacramento Superior Court that argues state employee unions shouldn't be allowed to enter the minimum wage fight between the governor and State Controller John Chiang.
As reported here, California Association of Professional Scientists and Professional Engineers in California Government on Monday filed a motion to be a party in the minimum wage litigation flying back and forth the last week or so. SEIU Local 1000 and CCPOA have done the same. All the unions are siding with Chiang. A hearing is set for Friday at 11 a.m...
LINK - SacBee.com
July 7, 2010
Controller Files Cross-Complaint Charging DPA Pay Letter is Illegal
State Controller John Chiang today filed a cross-complaint in Sacramento Superior Court, alleging the Pay Letter issued by the Department ofPersonnel Administration (DPA) ordering him to reduce state employee pay to the federal minimum wage is unlawful.
In his cross-complaint, the Controller alleges DPA's Pay Letter forces him "to choose between violating the Pay Letter or violating various federal and state laws."
Controller Chiang notes the DPA has not made any serious effort to work with the Controller to reach a resolution ofthe issues or to provide clarification to the Controller regarding his rights, duties and responsibilities" in paying salaries of state employees during a budget impasse...
July 7, 2010
Schwarzenegger sues, demanding Chiang pay minimum wage
The Schwarzenegger administration filed a new legal action today asking the Sacramento Superior Court to force Controller John Chiang to pay state employees minimum wage for this month if no state budget is enacted.
Chiang has said he will not comply with the governor's order to pay minimum wage for the July pay period. Filed by the Department of Personnel Administration and DPA Director Debbie Endsley, the action seeks to force Chiang to comply. It noted that the cut-off date to begin processing the July payroll is July 22.
It says the order is "urgently needed" to stop Chiang from paying full salaries...
LINK - SacBee.com
July 2, 2010
Controller Issues Statement Regarding DPA Letter
Controller Issues Statement Regarding DPA Letter (7/1/2010)
The following statement was issued by the Controller in response to a notice by the Department of Personnel Administration that they were planning on issuing a pay letter ordering the Controller to reduce state employee salaries to the minimum wage, with the exception of the six bargaining units the administration has reached an agreement with...
June 11, 2010
State Supreme Court to review worker furloughs
The state Supreme Court said Wednesday that it would review two of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's moves to slash state spending without legislative approval - cutting nearly $500 million from the budget and furloughing 200,000 state employees three days a month.
In separate orders, the court granted a hearing to Democratic leaders and social service agencies appealing Schwarzenegger's July 2009 line-item vetoes and broadened its review of the governor's furlough authority.
Schwarzenegger ordered most state employees to take two days a month off without pay in February 2009 and added a third furlough day in July, saying the state would save $1.4 billion a year...
LINK - SFGate.com
June 10, 2010
State agency rejects Schwarzenegger’s latest death penalty plan
In an unexpected development, a state agency has rejected California's new methodology for putting condemned inmates to death by lethal injection, and has given corrections officials until Oct. 6 to resubmit their proposal.
The decision by the Office of Administrative Law came Tuesday in a 21-page "decision of disapproval of regulatory action" and is the latest setback for the Schwarzenegger administration's beleaguered effort to resume executions.
The obscure agency is part of the state's executive branch and is run by two people appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. It "ensures that … regulations are clear, necessary, legally valid, and available to the public," according to its mission statement...
LINK - FresnoBee.com
June 2, 2010
Furlough Case Update/Briefs
The following briefs from the CCPOA furlough case are available for our members below. We apologize for the oversight in not posting these items sooner, however these are the final briefs on the furlough case. The case is now fully submitted and we are waiting to hear back from the court on this matter.
May 14, 2010
The Governor’s May Budget Revision
As you know, the Governor released his May Revision to the budget this afternoon. As in January, the proposal needs to solve an approximately $20 billion deficit. As expected the Governor proposes to solve most of the problem through cuts.
The major action in the corrections budget is to transfer certain “non-serious, nonviolent and non-sex offenders” to local government. Under his proposal, approximately 15,000 inmates would be kept in the counties (forcing a line number of jail inmates to the streets). He would provide the counties with half of the state savings resulting from the transfers. This proposal is a new version of his January proposal to make certain crimes misdemeanors only. The major difference is that under the new plan he is providing locals with money—an element that was not included in the January proposal. Nevertheless, the impact on public safety will be similar—15,000 jail inmates will be forced to be released to make room in the jails for the state inmates...
April 22, 2010
Supreme Court rejects Schwarzenegger furlough consolidation
The California Supreme Court has rejected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's request that it take up seven key furlough lawsuits now in two appellate courts and freeze more than a dozen others in trial courts around the state. The decision ends the possibility for a relatively quick resolution to about two dozen furlough lawsuits in courts around the state.
The court posted the decision on its website this morning: "The application to transfer and consolidate appeals now pending in the Court of Appeal to this court is denied." Justice Joyce Kennard dissented.
Schwarzenegger is embroiled in 25 active lawsuits in various stages of litigation in courts from Sacramento to Los Angeles. On Mar. 2, his attorneys asked the state's high court to consolidate and review seven cases related to the governor's furlough authority, including a three Alameda Superior Court decisions on "special fund" workers that the administration lost and has appealed...
LINK - SacBee.com
April 12, 2010
Critics say new California parole policy is costly, dangerous
On a Wednesday morning last month, Nicole Clements walked into her Sacramento parole agent's office about 9:40 and signed a one-page document.
The "Notification of Non-Revocable Parole Requirements" spelled out the rules for the 37-year-old Clements, who had been on parole for identity theft and has a history of arrests or citations for drug, theft and other crimes.
"You do not have a parole agent," the document states. "You do not have a requirement to report to a parole office..."
LINK - SacBee.com
March 10, 2010
Schwarzenegger orders change in parole file policy
State prison officials, drawing fire for destroying the parole file of a man under scrutiny in the disappearances of two teenage girls, reversed their recordkeeping policy Tuesday on orders from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
John Albert Gardner III was charged last week in the suspected killing of Chelsea King, 17, of Poway and is a person of interest, police say, in the slaying of Amber Dubois, 14, who disappeared on her way to school more than a year ago. Her skeletal remains were found Saturday in northern San Diego County.
A convicted sex offender, Gardner, 30, was discharged from parole in 2008, and his file was purged after a year under departmental policy...
LINK - LATimes.com
March 4, 2010
State prison cuts could backfire, report says
Recent cuts to California prison programs could result in more former inmates returning to prison and an increase in prison crowding, according to a draft state report.
The report from the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board, charged with overseeing rehabilitation programs, appears to contradict contentions by state prison officials who have said the budget cuts would not affect recidivism rates and will make prison programs more effective.
The report warns that the $250 million cut from inmate programs this year "may well mean that the hoped for reduction in recidivism will not be achieved any time soon," and that without those reductions "it seems likely that California will be unable to get control of the inmate population crisis..."
LINK - SFGate.com
March 1, 2010
New legislation to prevent Governor’s early inmate release plan from impacting counties
A state Assemblyman has introduced legislation to ensure that a recently enacted law allowing the early release of nonviolent offenders would only apply to state prisons, not county jails.
The original law, a cost-saving measure that officials expect will allow about 6,500 state prisoners to be released early over the next year, has caused confusion at the local level and prompted several lawsuits. Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont, said his proposal will make it clear that the early release provision is only meant to alleviate overcrowding at state prisons.
"It's not meant to apply to local inmates, period," he said. "We are dealing with a state crisis."...
LINK - SFGate.com
February 25, 2010
Schwarzenegger, Whitman back away from ballot measure to cut pension costs
Despite their full-throated support for cutting public employee pension costs, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the leading GOP candidate to replace him, Meg Whitman, have backed away from supporting a ballot measure that would do just that.
Their decisions, part of the complex calculus of California politics, are the death knell for the initiative drafted the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility. The Citrus Heights-based group had courted both the governor and the former eBay CEO.
"The governor felt he'd be a hindrance to us," said Marcia Fritz, president of the Citrus Heights-based foundation. "Meg is not supporting us. That's pretty much it."
The foundation qualified the measure for signature collection late last year, thinking Schwarzenegger or Whitman would lend a hand, maybe even write a few checks...
LINK - SacBee.com
February 5, 2010
Our View: Feeling safe about prisoners’ early release
It's not just Californians - or even Californians with a weather eye on our state's budget mess - who are bothered by the fact that we spend too much to lock up too many in our prisons.
And it's not just progressives who worry about the side-effects of locking up hundreds of thousands with very little effort made to "rehabilitate" them.
It's no less a personage than Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. While he's sometimes seen as aligned with a moderate wing on the high court, it was Kennedy, after all, who wrote the recent ruling allowing big business to go back to contributing cash in big ways to political campaigns. So he's no Tom Hayden…
LINK - PasadenaNews.com
February 3, 2010
Ventura County forced to released over 100 inmates so far under Gov’s early release legislation
Ventura County jail officials have begun releasing many inmates earlier than previously expected, to comply with a new state law that gives nonviolent offenders more time credits for good behavior.
Since the law took effect Jan. 25, the Ventura County Sheriff's Department has released 188 inmates early under its provisions, sheriff's officials said Wednesday. That figure represents almost 13 percent of the average total inmate population in county jails. Of the 188, 113 were released on the first day the law took effect.
The law also led to the early release of 22 people in the Ventura County Probation Agency's Work Furlough program, said Chief Probation Officer Karen Staples. The program allows certain inmates to work during the day and return to custody at night…
LINK - VCStar.com
February 1, 2010
Editorial: Gov’s Mexican prison idea a joke?
Governor, tell us you're joking about building state prisons in Mexico.
More absurd ideas may have arisen out of the Capitol in recent history, but none quite so impossibly impractical has made it out the mouth of a governor not nicknamed Moonbeam.
First, the context. This wasn't something Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger muttered in the gym locker room, though for all we know that's where the idea originated. (The governor's office remains coy about exactly who came up with this notion of sending thousands of undocumented inmates to specially built prisons south of the border.)
This was a straight-faced statement at the Sacramento Press Club, where the governor knew he was on the record…
LINK - FresnoBee.com
January 28, 2010
Private prison company CCA finds gold in CA (thanks, Gov)
In the intensifying debate over budget-driven releases of state prison inmates, the state's cash problems are well known. But at least one private correctional company is reaping major rewards.
In three years, a private-prison construction and management company, the Corrections Corporation of America, has seen the value of its contracts with the state soar from nearly $23 million in 2006 to about $700 million three months ago – all without competitive bidding. Even in a state accustomed to high-dollar contracts, the 31-fold increase over three years is dramatic.
During the same period, the company's campaign donations rose exponentially, from $36,750 in 2006, of which $25,000 went to the state Republican Party, to $233,500 in 2007-08 and nearly $139,000 in 2009. The donations have gone to Democrats, Republicans and ballot measures. The company's largest single contribution, $100,000, went to an unsuccessful budget-reform package pushed last year by Gov. Schwarzenegger…
LINK - CapitolWeekly.net
January 27, 2010
Sen. Tom Harman, Atty Gen candidate on Gov’s early release plan
In his recent State of the State address, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger addressed our fiscal deficits. He lamented that the budget for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has doubled on his watch.
Moreover, the governor is tired of California being a donor state. Recent estimates suggest that California gets back 78 cents for every tax dollar sent to Washington. His answer?: "We need to work with the federal government to build a more fair and equitable financial relationship."
I couldn't agree more. One obvious place to start has been staring California in the face for years — illegal immigrants in our prisons. While in Washington D.C. this week, Schwarzenegger should be sure to include this important issue in his discussions with federal leaders…
LINK - DailyPilot.com
January 26, 2010
Schwarzenegger, Mexico and private prisons?
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday that the state could save $1 billion by building and operating prisons in Mexico to house undocumented felons who are currently imprisoned in California.
The governor floated the idea during an appearance at the Sacramento Press Club in response to a question about controlling state spending. His speech came on the same day that changes in prisoner parole and credits for time served took effect.
"We pay them to build the prisons down in Mexico and then we have those undocumented immigrants be down there in a prison. … And all this, it would be half the cost to build the prisons and half the cost to run the prisons," Schwarzenegger said, predicting it would save the state $1 billion that could be spent on higher education…
LINK - SFGate.com
January 26, 2010
Costs for CCA’s out-of-state private prisoner contract soars
The price tag for California's out-of-state prisoners has jumped in three years from $20 million in late 2006, to $630 million in 2009-10.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) as well as the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) addressed rising out-of-state prisoner costs in a recent hearing by the Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review.
California was ordered in 2006 by the federal government to relieve the overcrowding in California prisons, which at the time, was nearly 200 percent of planned prison capacity, according to Scott Kernan with the CDCR. The recent final federal order was issued Jan. 13, 2010 by a three-judge District Court panel requiring a cut in prison population to 137.5 percent of design capacity within two years — a reduction of approximately 40,000 inmates…
LINK - CalWatchDog.com
January 26, 2010
Governor looks south of the border for prisons
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday that the state could save $1 billion by building and operating prisons in Mexico to house undocumented felons who are currently imprisoned in California.
The governor floated the idea during an appearance at the Sacramento Press Club in response to a question about controlling state spending. His speech came on the same day that changes in prisoner parole and credits for time served took effect.
"We pay them to build the prisons down in Mexico and then we have those undocumented immigrants be down there in a prison. … And all this, it would be half the cost to build the prisons and half the cost to run the prisons," Schwarzenegger said, predicting it would save the state $1 billion that could be spent on higher education…
LINK - SFGate.com (The San Francisco Gate)
January 25, 2010
Gov wants to build private prisons in Mexico for CA’s criminal aliens
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger floated an unusual suggestion Monday on how to cut the state's bloated prison costs with a private venture — build a private prison in Mexico.
"We pay them to build the prison down in Mexico, and then we have those undocumented immigrants be down there in prison," Schwarzenegger told a gathering of the Sacramento Press Club. "And with the prison guards and all this, it would be half the cost."
The governor's remark came amid alarm from law enforcement and crime victim groups about a new program meant to thin the state's prison population through early release…
LINK - KCRA.com
January 25, 2010
Prison Plan Reduces 30,000 Less Inmates Than Estimated
Instead of reducing prison overcrowding by 43,500 inmates, Schwarzenegger administration policy changes and legislation signed in October to thin the state's inmate population will only result in a 13,400 decrease in inmates over two years, the Legislative Analyst said in a report issued January 25.
That total is well short of the maximum number of inmates set two weeks ago by a federal three-judge panel which ordered the state to lower its prison population from roughly 168,000 to 128,000. California is appealing the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In the budget plan he presented January 8, the GOP governor proposes sending persons with no prior violent offenses who are convicted of various property and drug felonies to county jails for up to 366 days. Schwarzenegger says that would reduce the number of state prison inmates by 15,100 – when fully implemented…
LINK - CaliforniasCapitol.com
January 25, 2010
Schwarzenegger: Send illegal immigrant inmates to Mexico
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday offered yet another way California can save on incarcerating illegal immigrants: send them to Mexico.
The Republican governor said he will not raise taxes for a second year in a row during a speech at the Sacramento Press Club. Instead, he suggested that the state can find plenty of money in other ways such as cutting pension costs, allowing offshore oil drilling and lowering prison expenditures.
Schwarzenegger's budget plan calls for an $880 million infusion from the federal government to pay for housing illegal immigrant prisoners who have committed crimes in California. The governor also wants to rely more on private prison companies to run the state's corrections facilities…
LINK - SacBee.com
January 25, 2010
California inmate release plan begins
The state's controversial plan to reduce its prison population by 6,500 inmates over the next year begins today, with victims and law enforcement groups once again warning it will increase crime.
"We are concerned for the public's safety," said Christine Ward, director of the Crime Victims Action Alliance in Sacramento.
"We understand that this is a move by the Legislature to help relieve prison overcrowding and save money in the budget. But we're very disappointed that public safety seems to have taken a back seat to other issues."
The idea, which opponents label an "early-release" plan, was hammered out last year during contentious budget talks…
LINK - SacBee.com
January 21, 2010
Gov appoints new heads for CDCR in parole, labor relations, institutions, programs, BPH, CCCJ
01/21/2010 GAAS:50:10 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gov. Schwarzenegger Announces Appointments
Official Press Release at gov.ca.gov
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the following appointments:
Robert Ambroselli, 43, of Roseville, has been appointed director of the Division of Adult Parole Operations for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Since 2007, he has served as deputy director of the Division of Adult Parole Operations for CDCR. Ambroselli previously served CDCR as regional parole administrator in 2007, associate director from 2006 to 2007, parole administrator I from 2002 to 2006, parole agent III from 2001 to 2002, parole agent II and assistant unit supervisor for the interstate unit from 2000 to 2001, and parole agent II and corrections compact coordinator for the Interstate Unit in 2000. Prior to that, he was a parole agent I for the fugitive apprehension unit from 1998 to 2000 and for the Bakersfield parole unit from 1996 to 1998. Ambroselli was a correctional officer for North Kern State Prison from 1994 to 1996 and Pelican Bay State Prison from 1990 to 1994. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $135,564. Ambroselli is a Republican.
Tony Campos, 66, of Watsonville, has been appointed to the California Council on Criminal Justice. He has served on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors since 1999 and has owned and been a real estate broker for Caldwell Banker Campos since 1979. Previously, Campos served as a member of the Watsonville City Council from 1987 to 1998 and served as mayor in 1993 and again in 1994. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no salary. Campos is a Democrat.
Steven Caruso, 57, of Sacramento, has been appointed assistant secretary for labor relations for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Since 2008, he has served as director of resident programs for the Sacramento Mutual Housing Association. Previously, Caruso was the executive director for Family Promise of Sacramento from 2007 to 2008, senior consultant for Lincoln Crow Strategic Communications from 2005 to 2006 and executive director of the Elk Grove Community Food Bank from 2002 to 2007. He served as founder and president of Caruso and Company Professional Management Group from 1992 to 2006. Prior to that, Caruso was a consultant for Blanning and Baker Associates from 1988 to 1992, director of labor relations training for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association from 1986 to1988, deputy executive director for the California Commission on the Teaching Professions from 1984 to 1986 and senior staff consultant for J. Lewis Associates in 1983. He serves on the Alchemist Community Development Corporation's Board of Directors. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $105,060. Caruso is a Democrat.
George Giurbino, 50, of Represa, has been appointed director of the Division of Adult Institutions for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Since 2006, he has served as associate director of high security and transitional housing program institutions for the Division of Adult Institutions for CDCR. Giurbino served as warden of Centinela State Prison (CEN) and acting warden of Calipatria State Prison from 2000 to 2006. Prior to that, he was chief deputy warden of CEN in 2000 and assistant regional administrator for the San Diego region in the Institutions Division for CDCR in 1999. Giurbino served CEN as associate warden for business services in 1998, associate warden for housing services from 1997 to 1998, facility captain in 1997, investigative captain for correctional institutions and acting associate warden for housing services from 1995 to 1997 and correctional captain for custody operation from 1993 to 1995. From 1980 to 1993, he was a correctional officer for the California Rehabilitation Center. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $135,564. Giurbino is a Republican.
Roman Nava, 39, of Chino Hills, has been appointed to the California Council on Criminal Justice. Since 2005, he has been district director and small business liaison for San Bernardino County Supervisor Gary Ovitt. Previously, Nava served as a district representative for Assemblymember Bob Pacheco from 1999 to 2004 and assistant to the chief deputy appointments secretary for the Office of Governor Pete Wilson from 1996 to 1999. He is a member of the board of directors for Chino Hills Parks and Recreation Committee and Chino Valley Fire Foundation. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no salary. Nava is a Republican.
Robert Peppler, 57, of Fairfax, has been appointed to the Board of Parole Hearings. He served as assistant director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2005 to 2008. Prior to that, Peppler served the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department as undersheriff from 1997 to 2005, assistant sheriff from 1996 to 1997, deputy chief from 1995 to 1996, captain from 1991 to 1995, lieutenant from 1987 to 1991, sergeant from 1985 to 1987, detective from 1982 to 1985 and deputy sheriff from 1978 to 1982. He was a police officer with the Hinsdale Police Department in Illinois from 1976 to 1977. Peppler served in the U.S. Air Force from 1971 to 1975. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $111,845. Peppler is a Republican.
Elizabeth Siggins, 39, of Sacramento, has been appointed chief deputy secretary for adult programs for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). She has served CDCR as senior policy advisor to the secretary since 2008. Prior to that, Siggins was policy director for the Office of the Inspector General from 2007 to 2008. She served the California State Senate Rules Committee as principal consultant in 2007 and policy consultant from 2001 to 2003. From 2004 to 2007, Siggins was assistant secretary and chief for juvenile justice for CDCR and, from 2003 to 2004, was executive director for City Youth Now. She was a research consultant for community based services for the Edgewood Center for Children and Families Institute from 1997 to 1999, program coordinator for Peer Education and Violence Prevention Program Hospital Audiences from 1992 to 1997 and assistant to the executive director for the Bay Area Women's and Children's Center from 1989 to 1991. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $141,816. Siggins is registered decline-to-state.
Richard Subia, 48, of Folsom, has been appointed deputy director for the Division of Adult Institutions for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). He has served as associate director of general population II and III for the Division of Adult Institutions for CDCR since 2008 and previously served as acting associate director of general population II and III in 2007. >From 2006 to 2007, Subia was acting warden at the Mule Creek State Prison (MCSP). Prior to that, he served CDCR headquarters as correctional administrator and chief deputy administrator to the undersecretary and secretary from 2005 to 2006 and correctional captain and acting correctional administrator at the Division of Adult Institutions from 2004 to 2005. Prior to that, Subia worked at MCSP as correctional captain and facility captain from 2002 to 2004, correctional counselor and public information officer and administrative assistant to the warden from 2000 to 2002, correctional counselor and employee relations officer from 1997 to 2000 and correctional lieutenant and employee relations officer from 1994 to 1997. From 1989 to 1994, he was a correctional sergeant at the California State Prison, Solano and, from 1986 to 1989, he was a correctional officer at Folsom State Prison. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $135,564. Subia is a Republican.
Christine Ward, 41, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the California Council on Criminal Justice. Since 2006, she has been executive director for Doris Tate Crime Victims Bureau. Ward was domestic violence victim response team coordinator for Womanspace from 2002 to 2006, director for education and outreach and shelter director for the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Center from 2000 to 2002. She was volunteer coordinator for WEAVE from 1997 to 2000. Prior to that, Ward served Orco Construction Supply as human resources director from 1996 to 1997 and regional credit manager from 1989 to 1996. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no salary. Ward is registered decline-to-state.
January 20, 2010
High Court rejects state’s prisons edict appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Schwarzenegger administration's attempt Tuesday to dismantle a judicial panel that wants California to improve inmate health care by making its prisons less crowded, but set the stage for a possible ruling on the panel's authority to lower the prison population.
The high court's brief order agreed with inmates' lawyers that the state had acted prematurely in appealing an August 2008 ruling by a three-judge panel. That ruling found that overcrowding in the state's 33 prisons, which hold nearly twice their designed capacity of 80,000, was the chief cause of a medical care system that violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
The panel ordered the administration to submit a plan that would reduce the inmate population by 40,000 in two years. State lawyers appealed, arguing that the panel was illegally established, had exaggerated the health care problems and misidentified their cause, and lacked authority to order prisoner releases…
LINK - SFGate.com (San Francisco Gate)
January 20, 2010
Gov to release 6,000 inmates starting next week!
Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Tuesday that postponed the early release of 40,000 California prisoners, another 6,000 convicts are expected to be set free early from state prisons starting next week, alarming public safety officials and local leaders.
The 6,000 are to be released under separate legislation that is not affected by the Supreme Court's decision Tuesday.
The court rejected the state of California's challenge of a special judicial panel's order to release the prisoners early under an overcrowding lawsuit filed by the Berkeley-based nonprofit Prison Law Office…
LINK - DailyNews.com
January 19, 2010
Governor claims victory over 3-judge panel with stay from US Supreme Court
01/19/2010 GAAS:43:10 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement by Gov. Schwarzenegger's Legal Affairs Secretary Andrea Lynn Hoch on U.S. Supreme Court Decision
Governor Schwarzenegger's Legal Affairs Secretary Andrea Lynn Hoch today issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision:
"The U.S. Supreme Court's decision today is a win for the state because it guarantees there will be no early release of prisoners while the Three-Judge Panel's latest order is appealed. Given the more recent January 12 order by the Three-Judge Panel, it is no surprise that the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to wait and consider the entire case upon our appeal, which we will file today. We fully expect the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Three-Judge Panel's prisoner release order."
January 17, 2010
LA Times, SF Chron blast Gov’s private prison plans
ON PRISON SPENDING: State must address causes of overcrowding
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made at least two radical proposals in his State of the State address earlier this month. Both of them concern the state's budget-busting incarceration system. Neither of them is the most direct way to tackle it.The state is going to have to address the prison system this year, if for no other reason than the courts are forcing it to do so. Last August, a panel of three federal judges ruled that, thanks to overcrowding, mental and medical health programs in California's prisons were so inadequate as to be unconstitutional. The panel has given the state two years to reduce the number of inmates by 40,000…
LINK - SFGate.com (San Francisco Gate)
Editorial: A poor prison plan for California
Gov. Schwarzenegger's latest proposal combines a destructive budgeting formula with an untested theory about privatization.When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed shifting female inmates out of prisons to community detention centers in 2006, the Legislature said no. When he asked lawmakers the following year to approve $10.9 billion in bonds to build new prisons while also reforming sentencing laws and parole rules, they reduced the bond package and jettisoned the reforms. Last year, when he asked them to cut the prison budget by $1.2 billion, they fell about $200 million short. We don't blame the governor for being frustrated, but we do fault him for apparently giving up.
Schwarzenegger's latest prison plan, unveiled in his State of the State address earlier this month, is less a serious policy proposal than a hunk of red meat tossed out at voters who are understandably furious about cuts in education spending. It combines a deeply destructive budgeting formula with an untested theory about prison privatization…
LINK - LATimes.com
January 17, 2010
Opinion: “Privatizing prisons a bad idea”
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a big splash Jan. 6 by proposing a constitutional amendment to guarantee a bigger budget for higher public education in California each year than for the state's scandal-ridden prisons. Celebration in University Hall, gnashing of teeth by the prison guards union. What's wrong with that?
It's hard to disagree with a policy of beefing up public universities as an investment in California's future, the way we did in the good old days — rather than starving them into privatization as at present. Never mind how that promise can be carried out in the face of another $20 billion this year in cuts to essential public services statewide.
But the little-remarked, yet outlandish, truly scary part of the governor's plan was what came next: in order to make the prisons more cost-effective, he asserted, we should create a system of competition between public and privately operated prisons, because "competition and choice are always good."…
LINK - SantaCruzSentinel.com
January 16, 2010
$40 million tab for undocumented prisoners in Monterey County
It costs California taxpayers $40 million annually to house inmates in Monterey County prisons who are in the country illegally or whose immigration status is in question.
Getting more federal money to pay the cost of incarcerating such prisoners has been on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's agenda since he raised the issue with the Bush administration several years ago. Now he's turned up the volume a notch, asking this month for $880 million in federal money for undocumented inmates, part of his effort to bridge a $20 billion California budget deficit.
At the Salinas Valley State Prison and the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, 757 inmates are subject to existing or potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement holds, according to data from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation…
LINK - TheCalifornian.com
January 16, 2010
Schwarzenegger’s deficient thinking
A couple of months ago I interviewed an economist in Sacramento who has long studied California state finances. I asked him what the lowest general fund budget was that he could envision in California as state revenues shrivelled. He answered: $85bn a year. The state simply couldn't function with a smaller budget than that.
Last week, Governor Schwarzenegger declared another fiscal emergency, and proposed an $82 billion budget – three billion dollars below the barebones survival estimate of my economist friend.
Amidst all of the doom-and-gloom cuts, and the accompanying rage as the state that until recently epitomised possibility in America continues to implode, one policy change stood out, offering a glimmer of better priorities in the years ahead. Schwarzenegger called for a state constitutional amendment to ensure that the state never spent less than 10% of its general fund on higher education and never spent more than seven percent on prisons…
LINK - Guardian.co.uk
January 16, 2010
Governor looks to privatization of prisons, some wary
In his final State of the State speech last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger raised the possibility of privatizing state prisons as a way of saving money for increased university spending.
The state spends about $52,000 on each of its roughly 165,000 prisoners annually, in comparison to $32,000 in other states, officials said. Now the governor and state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation are looking into bringing the private sector in as a means of driving costs down…
LINK - PasadenaStarNews.com
January 15, 2010
Editorial: “Trained correctional officers necessary”
The article "State considers private prisons," Jan. 12, provided comments from various stakeholders - the governor, the Legislature, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. Each argued for or against the privatization of California prisons. Regretfully, none of the individuals quoted spoke for or about the consequences to taxpayers, the families of inmates, or even the inmates.
Prisons are supposed to provide two distinct and important functions: providing for the incarceration of those individuals who are a threat to public safety; and rehabilitating those individuals who want to and can be, which is even more important financially to every taxpayer. The prison system has abjectly failed to provide either as is demonstrated by the 70 percent rate of recidivism and the number of inmates who become repeat offenders. If any business had a product failure rate of 70 percent, it would be closed. Unfortunately, we cannot close our prisons.
The high cost of prisons is falsely attributed to the people that work in them, the correctional officers and medical staff, to name a few. The governor, in order to find a "quick fix" and to "retaliate against the union," suggests that the best way to reduce costs will be to open private prisons which pay their staffs less. As with all simplistic solutions, it sounds good in a sound bite, but it is doomed to failure…
LINK - SBSun.com (San Bernadino Sun)
January 14, 2010
Gov’s prison & education plan called “True Lies” by law professor
Most of what Governor Schwarzenegger has said during his six years in office about California's bloated carceral state is true. Most of his proposals to move us beyond this obvious disaster for our polity amount to lies.
I have nothing against rhetoric, in fact I make my living producing and analyzing it (with apologies to the professionals in the rhetoric department). Indeed, I had great hopes that this action hero Governor might really use his clear rhetorical skills to tell Californians that we have too much fear embodied in our penal code and prison policies.
• He called the parole system "broken."
• He described our prisons as involved in "warehousing people" (a phrase used by Marxist criminologists in my days in graduate school).
• He renamed our prison agency the "Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation" (a bit repetitive, but the right direction).
• And just the other day he spoke about the shame of a state that spends more on prisons than higher education (as if he was just arriving in the state).Sadly, beyond renaming the boxes, Governor Schwarzenegger's policy moves have mostly been non-serious, including this proposal to use our constitution to favor higher education spending over prisons…
LINK - CaliforniaProgressReport.com
January 13, 2010
CCPOA responds to Gov’s appeal and threat if he loses
The Schwarzenegger administration said it would file an appeal Wednesday in a lawsuit over his furloughs of state workers, contesting a decision by the controller to restore pay for prison guards.
Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered some 200,000 state employees to take three days off a month without pay, cutting their paychecks by 14 percent to help close the state's budget gap. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association sued, arguing that guards are losing three days' pay each month, but can never take the time off because prisons operate around the clock.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch sided with the 30,000-member union last month. On Tuesday, state Controller John Chiang said he intends to restore guards' full pay to comply with that ruling. The guards' court victory does not affect about two dozen other union lawsuits opposing the furloughs…
LINK - PE.com (The Press-Enterprise)
January 12, 2010
Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) says Gov’s budget full of holes
The Governor proposes $19.9 billion of budget solutions in 2009-10 and 2010-11 to address the budget shortfall and create a $1 billion reserve. While it is reasonable to assume the state will secure some new federal funding and flexibility, the chances that the state will receive all of what the Governor seeks from Washington are almost non-existent. The Legislature should assume that federal relief will be billions of dollars less than the Governor wants—necessitating that it make more very difficult decisions affecting both state revenues and spending. Many of this year's budget solutions will require significant time for departments to implement. Therefore, the Legislature and the Governor need to agree to a framework to solve much of the budget problem by the end of March…
LINK - LAO.ca.gov
January 11, 2010
Schwarzenegger wants feds to take over all illegal immigrants in CA prisons
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested one more "trigger" alternative Monday if the federal government does not provide California with additional federal funds — transferring undocumented immigrant prisoners to the federal government.
The Republican governor last week relied on getting $880 million in federal funds for undocumented inmates to help bridge the state's $19.9 billion deficit through June 2011. President Barack Obama proposed eliminating that funding altogether last year, and Congress plans to allocate not even half that amount for all 50 states.
"Why should we pay for it when it is the federal government that is having the lax policies on the borders, and is really in charge of immigration policies?" Schwarzenegger said Monday in Torrance during a press conference to promote his job creation plan…
LINK - SacBee.com
January 11, 2010
More on Gov’s private prison plan, CCPOA response
Changes could be expected to California's prisons in 2010 as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger aims to reduce prison costs.
Schwarzenegger's proposal to allow private prisons to compete with public prisons could add billions of dollars to the general fund a year, he said. That money could then be funneled into the education system.
Although official plans have yet to be decided, the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has been looking into various models to adhere to the governor's goals…
LINK - SBSun.com
January 10, 2010
Governor’s budget would strip city, county cash
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has demanded more federal dollars to help balance the state's budget, but local officials say he also sent a clear message to cities and counties throughout California: The state is coming for your money, too.
Included in the governor's proposal to bridge a $20 billion budget gap are measures that could strip more than $1 billion in transit funds from local jurisdictions, put more inmates in already overcrowded county jails, and require counties to pay more for child welfare and care for blind, disabled and elderly people…
LINK - SFGate.com
January 10, 2010
Higher Education: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
Does the State Spend More on Corrections or Higher Education?
About a fifth of the state General Fund budget goes to higher education and corrections combined. State spending in these two areas responds to very different cost pressures, so it is not surprise that funding trends could differ. Nonetheless, the question is commonly asked which sector receives more state support. There is no single answer to the question.
January 8, 2010
LAO’s Report: Does the State Spend More on Corrections or Higher Education?
A new report released by the California Legislative Analyst's Office looks at spending trends of Corrections and Higher Education, the two departments getting the most focus in the Governor's State of the State Address and 2010-2011 budget:
About a fifth of the state General Fund budget goes to higher education and corrections combined. State spending in these two areas responds to very different cost pressures, so it is not surprise that funding trends could differ. Nonetheless, the question is commonly asked which sector receives more state support. There is no single answer to the question…
VIEW the FULL REPORT
January 4, 2010
Gov losing political muscle as lame duck?
No self-respecting politician wants to be one. The phrase itself is utterly demeaning. But with a year left in office, there are signs that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has begun his transformation into a lame duck.
This status, defined by the weakness of a politician whose term will soon expire, may be difficult to swallow for a former Mr. Universe known to legions of moviegoers for vanquishing opponents as Hercules, Conan and the Terminator. Even as a pregnant man in "Junior," Schwarzenegger reflected a particular kind of strength.
But legislators have already begun sensing that as a lame duck he is easy prey and openly disregard some of his wishes. Members of his staff have steadily been quitting, and replacements are hard to come by…
LINK - LATimes.com
January 2, 2010
Gov promises jobs while threatening lay-offs and furloughs?
Governor Schwarzenegger Highlights Priorities for 2010, Wishes Californians Happy New Year in Weekly Radio Address:
An English audio link of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's weekly radio address is below.
English:
The 2-minute, 4-second address is available at http://gov.ca.gov/mp3/press/20091211_address.mp3. The file is 489 KB.
…That is why my New Year's Resolution is to help speed up our economic recovery and create a job for every Californian who wants one.
My Number One priority is jobs, jobs, jobs.
And in my State of the State Address next week, I will announce a job creation package to help spur job growth and jumpstart our economy…
LINK - Read the FULL Message at gov.ca.gov
December 23, 2009
Breaking News: Schwarzenegger budget plan will include furlough, layoff options
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to save $1.6 billion in state employee costs by maintaining monthly furloughs past next June, instituting layoffs or shifting general fund workers into positions financed by other revenues, according to sources familiar with the governor's forthcoming budget proposal.
California faces a $20.7 billion general fund budget deficit through June 2011, according to an estimate by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. Schwarzenegger ordered an estimated 200,000 state workers to take two furlough days a month starting last February and then three per month starting in July to save an estimated $1.4 billion in general fund dollars. Under the governor's new budget proposal, furloughs could continue beyond the scheduled end date of June 2010…
LINK - SacBee.com
December 15, 2009
Sac Bee opines on prisons, budget, Kelso and CDCR
Whom should the public hold responsible for runaway overtime costs for prison health care?
The governor and California's dysfunctional Legislature are largely to blame, followed by a prison health care bureaucracy overseen by a federal receiver who has failed to protect taxpayers.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers consistently approve budgets that understate the true cost of prison health care, and therefore understate the numbers of nurses, nurse assistants, clinicians, doctors and others who are needed to provide the minimum care required under the state and U.S. constitutions. That in turn leads to the eye-popping overtime costs The Bee's Charles Piller documented in his recent report…
LINK - SacBee.com
December 8, 2009
Inmate lawyers side with Schwarzenegger’s early release plan in federal court
Lawyers for California's sick inmates said Monday they like the Schwarzenegger administration's plan for reducing the prison population and urged a three-judge federal panel to let state officials decide what methods to use.
The plan calls for a reduction in the population of 33 adult prisons to 137.5 percent of design capacity within two years, thus meeting the requirement of the panel's Aug. 4 order.
"Rather than ordering the state to utilize particular population reduction methods, the court should leave to the state the discretion and flexibility to choose which methods it uses to accomplish the reduction," the inmates' attorneys said in their response to the plan…
LINK - SacBee.com
December 7, 2009
Governor’s prison plan draws mixed reviews
Lawyers for California's prison inmates on Monday supported Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's overall plan to reduce overcrowding in the state's 33 prisons, but asked a federal court to order state prison officials to meet strict deadlines to ensure they shed nearly 40,000 inmates from the system over the next two years.
Meanwhile, the plan drew fire from Republican lawmakers and some counties, including Santa Clara County, which is worried about the impact of releasing state prison inmates into local jails…
LINK - MercuryNews.com
November 24, 2009
CA Law Enforcement officials opposed to Gov’s re-newed early release plan
The planned reduction of 40,000 state inmates over the next two years to relieve overcrowding has lawmakers and law enforcement officials concerned over the impact on public safety.
Officials and law enforcement officials are sounding concern over the Schwarzenegger administration's proposed compliance with the federal judges' order aimed at providing a more constitutional level of health care for prison inmates.
The plan comes as communities are dealing with reductions in law enforcement budgets because of the state fiscal and global economic crisis…
LINK - DailyBulletin.com
November 13, 2009
State offers new prison plan
California Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate announced late Thursday that the state has a plan to reduce the prison population that will satisfy a judicial panel of judges, but the three federal judges have to be willing to issue orders the state sees as illegal.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation can reach the population goal the judges are seeking only with changes in state laws or federal court orders waiving laws now on the books, Cate said at an evening press briefing.
The Legislature already has turned thumbs down on some of the changes, such as increasing the monetary threshold for grand theft, offering alternative custody options for low-level offenders, and limiting sentencing options to county jail for certain offenses…
LINK - SacBee.com
ALSO SEE: CDCR.CA.GOV - Stamped Filing of New Prison Reduction Plan (130 pages)
November 12, 2009
Governor to submit plan to reduce prison crowding
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tonight will give federal judges a road map to reducing state prison overcrowding that involves waiving some state laws so sentencing regulations can be changed and new private prisons built.
But the governor also will disavow those solutions as illegal, said Oscar Hidalgo, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
An initial plan that Schwarzenegger submitted was rejected three weeks ago by the three judges, who threatened him with contempt of court for failing to meet their demand for a proposal to reduce the inmate population by 40,000 prisoners over two years…
LINK - LATimes.com Blogs
November 4, 2009
Schwarzenegger creating hundreds of jobs in Oklahoma?
Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America is creating 217 new jobs in Oklahoma, after finalizing a contract with California to house an additional 1,400 inmates at a facility in Sayre, Okla.
Under the same contract, CCA also will house additional California inmates at a facility in Arizona. The contract increases CCA's system-wide number of California inmates to 10,468, up from 7,900.
When hiring is complete, Sayre's North Fork Correctional Facility will employ 529 people…
LINK - BizJournals.com
October 22, 2009
Court rejects governor’s plan to solve prison overcrowding
A federal court on Wednesday rejected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to solve California's prison overcrowding crisis, giving the state three weeks to devise an alternative or risk an order that seizes control of how more than 40,000 inmates are released from the prison system over the next two years.
In a seven-page ruling, a three-judge panel found the governor's plan for reducing prison overcrowding inadequate. The judges said it failed to comply with their August order requiring the state to come up with a proposal to remove about one quarter of the more than 150,000 inmates now crammed into California's prisons.
Schwarzenegger and chief prison officials in September responded to the August order with a plan that would only reduce the inmate population by about 20,000 inmates over the next three years, less than half of what was sought by the judges. State officials maintain their plan balanced the need to reduce prison overcrowding with public safety concerns…
LINK - MercuryNews.com
October 14, 2009
Some furlough days actually cost California money
Staff shortages are forcing tens of thousands of state workers employed at prisons and other around-the-clock institutions to report to work on their furlough days — and the state is paying them with what amount to IOUs that will be costly to taxpayers, according to a Senate report to be released today.
In the long run, the state will save far less than the $1.7-billion touted by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger when he ordered state workers furloughed three days a month, the report concluded.
"Really what is happening in these facilities is the state is not reducing hours, they're just deferring paychecks," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D- Sacramento), who ordered the report….
LINK - LATimes.com
October 8, 2009
Gov appoints new wardens for Folsom, Salinas Valley
Michael Evans, 63, of Sacramento, has been appointed warden of Folsom State Prison. He has served the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) as warden of Salinas Valley State Prison since 2006 and was acting warden from 2004 to 2006. Evans served as chief deputy warden of the California Correctional Institution (CCI) in 2004, associate warden of the High Desert State Prison from 2000 to 2004, correctional captain with the Northern Transportation Unit, Division of Adult Institutions from 1997 to 2000 and correctional lieutenant for the Richard A. McGee Correctional Training Center from 1995 to 1997. Prior to that, he served at CDCR's Emergency Operations Unit as correctional lieutenant from 1993 to 1995 and sergeant and training coordinator from 1990 to 1993. Evans also served CCI as correctional sergeant from 1989 to 1990 and correctional officer from 1986 to 1989. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $129,108. Evans is a Republican.
Anthony Hedgpeth, 56, of Salinas, has been appointed warden of Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP). He has served the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as acting warden of SVSP since 2008 and was warden of Kern Valley State Prison from 2007 to 2008. Prior to that, Hedgpeth served SVSP as chief deputy warden from 2006 to 2007, correctional administrator from 2004 to 2006, facility captain from 2000 to 2004 and correctional lieutenant from 1998 to 2000. He served as correctional lieutenant for Wasco State Prison from 1990 to 1998 and California State Prison, Corcoran (CSP-COR) from 1989 to 1990. He was a correctional sergeant at CSP-COR from 1988 to 1989 and the California Correctional Institution from 1986 to 1988. Hedgpeth was a correctional officer at the Correctional Training Facility from 1981 to 1986. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $129,108. Hedgpeth is a Republican.
October 7, 2009
Gov still bragging about (non-existant) prison expansion on his website?
California's prison population is expected to surpass 175,000 inmates in 2007, nearly double the number the system was designed to handle. To secure these offenders, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is housing inmates in workrooms and dayrooms and triple-bunking some in gymnasiums and dormitories. Gyms and dayrooms were not designed to house inmates, and this severe overcrowding creates major safety and security concerns for officers, staff and inmates. Under a declaration of emergency issued by the Governor on October 4, 2006, the CDCR has begun temporarily transferring inmates to prison facilities in other states.
Overcrowding in local jails is just as serious. Space is so limited in local jail facilities that 33 counties are under court-ordered or self-imposed population caps. As many as 18,000 arrestees every month are released from jail early or avoid jail altogether as a result of population caps.
The CDCR and local jurisdictions continue to face increasing pressure from courts to address the public safety population crisis. CDCR is facing three lawsuits attempting to impose a mandatory cap on population in state prisons. If such a cap were imposed by a court, it would result in tens of thousands of felons being released into California communities. This phase of the SGP represents an integrated approach to the issue of incarceration capacity statewide; a partnership between counties and the state to effectively manage a growing problem and challenges in our shared criminal justice system…
LINK - Gov.ca.gov
September 21, 2009
Analysis: California prisons plan balances different goals
Pressed between federal judges and a withered economy, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested his plan to reduce the prison population will try to comply with a judicial mandate without breaking the budget again or risking public safety.
A three-judge panel on Aug. 4 ordered the state to produce a plan to cut prison crowding, and California submitted a recitation of what it says it has already done and is about to do.
The changes have either been implemented since the close of a trial before the panel in December or will be initiated in accord with recent legislation, the Schwarzenegger administration said in its 21-page plan filed late Friday…
LINK - SacBee.com
September 21, 2009
New CDCR, DPA appointments by Gov
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the following appointments:
Julie Chapman, 51, of Citrus Heights, has been appointed chief deputy director of policy at the Department of Personnel Administration (DPA). She has served DPA in the Labor Relations Division as deputy director since 2006, assistant chief from 2004 to 2006 and labor relations officer from 2000 to 2004. Prior to that, Chapman worked for the Department of Mental Health as a labor relations specialist from 1996 to 2000 and the Department of General Services as a labor relations analyst from 1994 to 1996. She was an associate personnel analyst for the Department of General Services from 1993 to 1994 and Department of Housing and Community Services from 1988 to 1992. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $114,024. Chapman is a Democrat.
Debbie Endsley, 51, of Placerville, has been appointed director of the Department of Personnel Administration (DPA). She has served DPA as chief deputy director since 2007, chief of the Benefits Division from 2004 to 2006 and deputy chief of the Benefits Division from 1998 to 2004. Prior to that, Endsley served the California Public Employees' Retirement System as a research analyst from 1995 to 1998 and the Department of Rehabilitation as an associate budget analyst from 1988 to 1995 and associate personnel analyst from 1984 to 1988. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $142,965. Endsley is a Republican.
Fernando Gonzalez, 52, of Tehachapi, has been appointed warden of the California Correctional Institution (CCI) for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). He has served at CCI as chief deputy warden since 2006, acting warden since 2007 and correctional administrator from 2005 to 2006. Prior to that, Gonzalez was a correctional administrator for CDCR from 2002 to 2004. He served at the California Men's Colony as correctional captain from 1996 to 2002, correctional counselor II-supervisor from 1993 to 1996, correctional lieutenant from 1990 to 1993, correctional counselor I from 1989 to 1990, correctional sergeant from 1986 to 1989 and correctional officer from 1981 to 1986. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $129,108. Gonzalez is a Democrat.
Michael Martel, 54, of Sacramento, has been appointed warden of Mule Creek State Prison (MCSP) for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). He has served MCSP as acting warden since 2008 and chief deputy warden since 2007. Prior to that, Martel was associate warden of CDCR headquarters then acting chief deputy warden of MCSP in 2007. He served the California State Prison, Sacramento as associate warden from 2006 to 2007, correctional captain from 2004 to 2006 and in 2000 and facility captain from 2001 to 2004. Martel served at CDCR headquarters as correctional lieutenant from 1998 to 2000 and as a labor relations specialist from 1996 to 1998. He was a correctional lieutenant at the California Medical Facility from 1990 to 1996, correctional sergeant at Folsom State Prison from 1986 to 1990 and correctional officer at San Quentin State Prison from 1981 to 1986. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $129,108. Martel is a Republican.
Socorro Salinas, 57, of Oakdale, has been appointed warden of the Deuel Vocational Institution (DVI) for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Since 2008, she has served as acting warden of DVI. Salinas served as chief deputy warden for the Sierra Conservation Center from 2007 to 2008, correctional administrator for San Quentin State Prison (SQ) from 2003 to 2007 and correctional counselor III with the Office of Substance Abuse Programs at the Northern California Women's Facility from 2002 to 2003. She served at California State Prison, Sacramento (SAC) as correctional captain from 2000 to 2002 and facility captain from 1995 to 2000. Salinas was a correctional lieutenant at Mule Creek State Prison and SAC from 1987 to 1995 and correctional sergeant for the Richard A. McGee Correctional Training Facility from 1985 to 1987. She served at SQ as a correctional sergeant from 1984 to 1985 and correctional officer from 1980 to 1984. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $129,108. Salinas is a Democrat.
Source: www.gov.ca.gov
September 17, 2009
State wants control over inmates’ health care
A state lawyer argued Wednesday that California should regain control of its prison health care system, saying a federal judge had no authority to appoint a receiver to run inmates' treatment in 2006.
The argument drew a skeptical response from a federal appeals judge, who noted that California has argued before a different court that there was no need to reduce the prison population to improve health care because the receiver was in charge of the system.
Judge Michael Hawkins of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also noted that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration didn't object in 2005 when the judge hearing the prison health case, Thelton Henderson, announced plans to remove the medical system from state control and turn it over to a receiver as a last resort to meet constitutional standards…
LINK - SFGate.com
September 4, 2009
Editorial: Get it straight, Schwarzenegger
We wonder if we're the only ones confused by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's strange behavior on prison overcrowding.
With our support, the governor has been pressing the Legislature to pass measures to reduce the prison population with actions that would help slice $1.2 billion from the budget and improve public safety. Then on Tuesday, Schwarzenegger announced that the state would appeal a federal court order that placed a cap on California's prison population.
That court order, contrary to false claims by some politicians, does not call for mass early release or a ban on the admission of new offenders to prison. The court left it to the state to choose what alternatives would most easily and economically reduce the prison population to 137.5 percent of the capacity for which the prisons were designed…
LINK - SacBee.com
September 3, 2009
Court refuses Schwarzenegger’s delay request for inmate release plan
A three-judge federal court panel has refused California's bid to hold off on coming up with a plan to release more than 40,000 inmates from the state's prison system, forcing the state to keep working on clearing its prisons while pressing an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"This court has been more than patient with the state and its officials," the judges wrote in an order Thursday. "Further delays and obstruction will not well serve the people of the state and will not be tolerated by this court."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration earlier this week asked the three-judge panel to stay its Aug. 4 order requiring state officials to devise a plan to shed more than 40,000 inmates from the prison population to bring the prison system into compliance with constitutional standards…
LINK - MercuryNews.com
August 20, 2009
Sentencing panel sets off alarms
A package of money-saving prison measures that lawmakers will debate today includes creation of an appointed commission with broad powers to rewrite sentencing guidelines.
The state's police chiefs and district attorneys associations slammed the sentencing commission proposal, saying it would give an unelected body authority to transform sentencing laws.
But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who usually sides with the police chiefs and district attorneys, backs the commission idea, said spokesman Aaron McLear…
LINK - SacBee.com (The Sacramento Bee)
August 19, 2009
Schwarzenegger tours devastation after prison riot
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday toured the Southern California prison where 175 inmates were injured in a riot earlier this month, likening the devasation to a scene from one of his movies.
More than 1,000 inmates were involved in the Aug. 8 riot at the California Institution for Men in Chino. The melee left dormitories so badly damaged that inmates have been shipped to other prisons while the dorms are being repaired. One unit was burned, while toilet seats, pipes and other materials were ripped out to be used as weapons.
"Entire housing units were burned," Schwarzenegger said during a news conference after surveying the damage. "It looks like a scene from one of my movies, except this is real danger here and real destruction…"
LINK - Google.com (Associated Press)
August 19, 2009
Governor highlights his prison plan at site of a recent prison riot
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today visited the California Institution for Men in Chino, the site of a prison riot earlier this month that sent 55 inmates to hospitals and caused millions of dollars worth of property damage.
Schwarzenegger said his main motivation was to thank prison guards who were able to quell the unrest without "loss of life," but the governor wasted no time in making a pitch for his prison reform package that would save the state $1.2 billion this year by reducing the state prison inmate population by about 27,000.
Prison overcrowding has been one of the biggest issues for the state, and the issue was highlighted when fights broke out among inmates at the Chino prison, where nearly 6,000 prisoners are housed in a facility built for 3,000 inmates…
LINK - SFGate.com
August 18, 2009
Editorial: “Prison no place for indiscriminate penny-pinching”
If you know people who work at Pelican Bay State Prison (and who doesn't in Del Norte County?) be kind to them. They are probably feeling under siege.
There's a tendency to think of the 1,500-plus Pelican Bay workers as the lucky ones around here, pulling in wages and benefits equal to their counterparts in more expensive parts of California. Certainly they earn more than most of the local work force, and we should all be thankful for that because the prison payroll is obviously a big driver of our region's economy.
So we're not saying feel sorry for them. Just be kind to them…
LINK - Triplicate.com
August 6, 2009
Sacramento area could see higher rate of prisoners released
A federal court order demanding that California reduce its prison population by 40,591 would hit the Sacramento region harder than most places because so many local residents are incarcerated, according to a Bee review of prison data.
Counties send criminals to state prison at dramatically different rates, state figures show. In San Francisco County, for instance, two of every 1,000 residents are in state custody; in Yuba County, it's eight of every 1,000 residents – one of the highest rates in the state.
Upon release, the state typically returns inmates to their home counties, in fact, that often is a condition of parole…
LINK - SacBee.com
August 3, 2009
Governor’s inmate reduction program: How will it work?
As police officers and deputies are being laid off across California, the idea is almost breathtaking: Reduce California's prison population by 27,300 inmates, partly by letting some out of the gates. The plan, part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's piecemeal effort to balance the budget, is designed to trim corrections spending by $1.2 billion.
But it has rattled the nerves of local law enforcement leaders and crime victim advocates who say the loss of front-line officers has made communities vulnerable. They wonder how the state will keep its vow to release only low-risk offenders and keep tabs on them…
LINK - SacBee.com
July 27, 2009
Chuck Alexander: Governor stiff-arms prison officers’ ideas to save money
While Sacramento police and firefighters are receiving accolades from local officials for making contract concessions during tough times, our governor has summarily rejected any and all attempts by California correctional peace officers to do the same.
With California now reduced to passing out IOUs to cover its growing debts and its credit rating in free fall, the governor's refusal to even consider, let alone enact, any of these cost-saving proposals is puzzling.
We recently offered to reduce future pension obligations, alter sick leave provisions and make other contractual changes that would save California taxpayers more than a billion dollars annually, all of which were flatly rejected by the Schwarzenegger administration…
LINK - Special to the SacBee.com
July 27, 2009
Early Release of Bureaucrats Not Early Release of Prisoners!
What California needs is a release of middle management prison bureaucrats. Instead of pushing a plan of early release of tens of thousands of convicted felons from our state prison we ought to be looking for savings by cutting the fat out of CDCR.
The Governor's prison budget savings plan would release nearly 30,000 prisoners into our communities. Senate Republicans have a safe and sane plan to achieve the same level of savings without any early release of prisoners, and it's in writing.
See the "Corrections Budget Reductions" document below…
LINK - FlashReport.org
July 16, 2009
State parole director to step down
The director of the state's mammoth parole system, Thomas Hoffman, is retiring from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration at the end of the month.
Hoffman, who joined the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in 2006, was credited in a memo today by state prisons chief Matt Cate for "serving as a catalyst of change, within a challenging correctional environment."
Cate said Hoffman had advanced evidence-based approaches to dealing with the state's parole system, which tracks 111,000 former prisoners…
LINK - LATimes.com
July 9, 2009
Gov seeks 20% total cut in state worker pay
State workers, brace yourselves for another furlough day.
The governor's latest budget proposal assumes almost 20 percent in employee wage cuts: 15 percent from the three-day furloughs that started this month, plus another 5 percent across-the-board whack.
"Three days (furlough) plus the 5 percent," said H.D. Palmer, Department of Finance spokesman when asked Wednesday to clarify the governor's budget proposal.
The Legislature won't go for the pay cut, but the governor can then add a furlough day for reasons we'll explain…
LINK - SacBee.com
July 9, 2009
California grants early release of parole violators
California prison officials, facing severe overcrowding and a financial crisis, have been granting early releases to inmates serving time for parole violations.
State officials said the dozens of prisoners set free from the California Institution for Men in Chino and from lockups in San Diego and Shasta counties had 60 days or less left on their terms, or had been accused of violations and were awaiting hearings. The releases were approved by the state parole board.
At least 89 inmates have been freed or approved for early release during the last two months. Others have been sent to home detention, drug rehabilitation programs or similar alternative punishments…
LINK - LATimes.com
July 9, 2009
Newspaper slams CDCR & Gov over prison crisis
Considering the shameful foot-dragging that California has already demonstrated when it comes to fulfilling a federal court order to improve health and mental health care for prison inmates, the governor's recent rejection of a plan to build two prison hospitals should come as no surprise.
The plan, hammered out by federal court-appointed receiver J. Clark Kelso and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Matthew Cate, seemed workable when it was announced last month. It called for building two prison hospitals — one in Northern California, the other in Southern California — to house 3,400 inmates. The $1.9 billion price tag would be paid from already-approved bonds designated for prison construction.
The plan was pared significantly from an $8 billion attention-getting proposal put forth by the receiver, who for months couldn't even get prison officials to sit down and talk with him about what was needed. The ploy worked, and the two-hospital solution was the result…
LINK - TheReporter.com
June 30, 2009
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Sticking It to “America’s Best”
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is accomplishing right now what he failed to do in 2005 when he tried to put the state's major labor unions out of business and downsize the state government. At that time there was no economic catastrophe to point to as an excuse to shred the social safety net. But today, thanks to an economic crisis his good friend George W. Bush gave us, he's launching a frontal assault against virtually all of the state's public sector institutions. California Republicans have always hated social programs they believed mirrored Lyndon Johnson's Great Society and they've tried in good times and in bad to dismantle them. Now they're seizing the current crisis to enact their wildest free-market fantasies.
"No matter the nationality, no matter the religion, no matter the ethnic background," Schwarzenegger told an adoring crowd at the 2004 Republican National Convention, "America brings out the best in people. And as governor of the great state of California, I see the best in Americans every day — our police, our firefighters, our nurses, doctors, and teachers, our parents."
And now he's proudly sticking it to those same people he praised so fulsomely five years ago when it was politically expedient for him to do so…
LINK - HuffingtonPost.com (Slow-loading page, but worth the wait!)
June 25, 2009
Schwarzenegger rejects inmate health care plan
The Schwarzenegger administration has rejected a plan designed to end years of litigation over inmate medical care in California's prison system.
In a letter obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate tells a court-appointed receiver that the state cannot afford the $1.9 billion fix.
It cites legislation signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2007 that provides about $8 billion for prison construction, including $1 billion dedicated to health care improvements…
LINK - ChicoER.com (Chico Enterprise-Record)
June 25, 2009
Prison Workers Protest Schwarzenegger
Union members of SEIU Local 1000 were out picketing in front of North Kern State Prison Wednesday afternoon in protest of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed job cuts.
The governor's office said the layoff responsibilities have been passed on to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. They are responsible for sending layoff notices.
The governor's office confirmed that they sent 3,665 layoff notices to corrections officers and entry-level positions including office technicians…
LINK - Turnto23.com News
June 16, 2009
Democrats take on governor over cuts
Democrats started firing back in concerted fashion Tuesday against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts, setting the stage for yet another round of acrimonious debate as the state falls further into the red.
A state budget panel dominated by Democrats on Tuesday called for significantly fewer cuts in state programs — about 25 percent less — than what Schwarzenegger is seeking to bridge a projected $24 billion budget deficit.
In addition, Democratic leaders are proposing at least $1.9 billion in taxes to help create a reserve fund that state officials say is necessary to secure loans and cover future shortfalls. The governor's plan would achieve this fund through deeper budget reductions…
LINK - PressDemocrat.com
June 10, 2009
Leader says Senate GOP will support most of Schwarzenegger’s cuts
California's Republican Senate leader said Tuesday his caucus will back most of the budget cuts recommended by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but won't agree to the governor's plan to save money by releasing inmates and laying off prison guards.
Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, said in an interview with The Bee's Capitol Bureau he believes the Legislature's Democratic majority ultimately will agree to slash government spending and "plug" the $24.3 billion budget by a July 1 deadline.
The Legislature is considering Schwarzenegger's proposals for deep cuts to education, social services and corrections, including early release and deportation of some foreign inmates and house arrest and probation for some citizen prisoners…
LINK - SacBee.com
June 8, 2009
Early release for immigrant inmates raises questions
Juan Pedro Panuco said he and other immigrant inmates at Folsom State Prison have heard that California is so cash-strapped, some of them could get sprung early and then deported.
"Some of them are excited," said Panuco. He's not.
At 36, he's been in California since he was 18, is married to a legal U.S. resident and has three small children. He is nine months into a 13-month sentence he got for selling drugs…
LINK - SacBee.com
May 29, 2009
Schwarzenegger proposes 5% cut in California employee salaries
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday readied a proposal to cut state worker salaries by an additional 5% as local government officials lambasted his bid to take $2 billion from cities and counties to help curb the state's growing budget deficit.
The governor's proposed salary reduction would affect 235,000 state workers who already are taking mandatory unpaid furloughs to help the state grapple with a projected budget gap of $24.3 billion.
Combined with the furloughs, ordered by Schwarzenegger earlier this year, the new proposed salary cuts would push many state employees' wages down by about 15%, saving the state $470 million…
LINK - LATimes.com
May 23, 2009
California corrections agency to take biggest layoff hit
California's prison and parole system will lose about 5 percent of its sworn officers as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's layoff order takes hold over the next four months, according to administration figures released Friday.
Another 10 agencies, including one that serves veterans and another that collects taxes, are also cutting staff, but none come close to the 3,665 layoff notices delivered by the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as part of Schwarzenegger's plan to eliminate 5,000 state jobs.
"And there definitely will be more layoffs coming," said Lynelle Jolley, spokeswoman for the Department of Personnel Administration…
LINK - SacBee.com (Sacramento Bee)
May 21, 2009
Public safety worries rise with deep cuts
Prison sentencing, fire protection, and police services all face budget cuts after Tuesday's special election. Now many wonder what could be in store for public safety.
Just this week, a parolee with a loaded gun led CHP officers on a high speed chase across the Bay Bridge. In March parolee Lovell Mixon shot and killed four Oakland police officers. It's those kind of incidents that frighten people when the governor talks about releasing prisoners to save money — now that the budget measures have been defeated. State Attorney General Jerry Brown says he would review any such plan.
"You can't just let people out. You have to have a frame work of supervision and motivation so that these individuals can be controlled and deterred from their behavior which is very anti-social," said State Attorney Brown…
LINK - ABC Local News
