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California's prison guards union says it is willing to make pay concessions in exchange for more say over prison closings and future staff levels.
Forget it.
Yes, the state needs to renegotiate its contract with the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. The current provisions relating to prison guard salaries, hours and overtime costs are irrational and need revision.
But the guards' contract alone is not the source of the budget crisis in the prison system. Giving the union more say over prison closings and staffing in return for pay concessions could save money in the short run, but it would further limit the state's power to sensibly manage a prison system that already is unconscionably mismanaged. In the long run, that would make it even harder for the state to get control of costs.
In order to get prison costs under control, it's necessary to understand that the prison guards' contract is part of a larger problem. For years, both the executive and legislative branches of state government have failed to meet their responsibilities with regard to the state's prisons.
The contract didn't materialize out of thin air. It exists because the administration of former Gov. Gray Davis and members of the Legislature lacked the courage to stand up to the union, which is one of the most powerful forces in California politics.
The Department of Corrections has magnified the contract's effects. It has failed to institute basic management practices that would track and reduce key costs, such as overtime. It has not held prison wardens accountable for their management decisions.
And the Legislature has, until recently, masked the contract's excesses. Lawmakers, always willing to cater to the politically powerful union, have ignored overspending and blithely approved supplemental budgets.
So there is plenty of blame to go around. But with the state in fiscal crisis, it's not enough to assign blame. What's needed is a plan to attack the systemwide crisis in the prisons with systemwide reforms. Some parts of that plan already should be obvious.
* Renegotiate key provisions of the contract that clearly contribute to wasteful overtime spending.
* Institute sensible management practices that improve the situation rather than make it worse.
* Use readily available information from the state Controller's Office to create monthly and annual reports on each prison to hold wardens accountable for managing expenditures, including overtime.
* Pass a budget and make it clear that the days of the Legislature routinely covering cost overruns are over
We'll have more to say about these and other ideas in future editorials.
But for any ideas to work, everyone - the governor, corrections officials, lawmakers and the public - must acknowledge that the present situation is unacceptable and that it's time to get the corrections system - not just one part of it - under control.
The only way to do that is to tackle the job across the prison system - to change not only the contract, but also the practices of the Corrections Department and the prevailing attitude in the Legislature. To see why, just look at the unholy combination of contract provisions and management practices that drive up overtime costs.
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