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When the Legislature returns next week, they will face a special session called by Governor Schwarzenegger to deal with the problems of an overcrowded California prison system. This afternoon, the state's top prisons official said the governor's proposals to help resolve those problems hinge on a bond measure of some $6 billion.
James Tilton, the interim director of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, told reporters this afternoon that the money would be spent both on building new prisons, and on establishing a new program to help some prisoners successfully re-enter the community.
"This is an investment," said Tilton, previewing part of the case he and the governor will have to make to legislators. The lease-revenue bonds, which would be sold later this year and paid back over 30 years, would require a full two-thirds vote of the Legislature but would not require a vote of the people. And $6 billion isn't really the final cost, as the debt service on the bonds would add costs to the state budget.
According to data from the administration, the largest single portion of the bonds would go to the governor's call for a new community re-entry program. The other largest portion would go towards construction of two new prisons, which the administration currently projects would open for business in the 2010-11 fiscal year.
Tilton, who only recently stepped into the top job, was clear to point out that current projections show the prisons will run out of space next year if nothing is done. And Tilton said if that happens, then prisoners will have to remain in county jails. While their costs would be paid by the state, the situation would nonetheless add to the crowded conditions that already exist in many localities.
Staffers say they expect the reform proposals to be submitted as legislative bills when lawmakers return here on Monday. And there won't be much time, with the Legislature expected to adjourn for the year at the end of August.
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