California lawmakers are advocating to cut billions from state expenditures as spending remains high despite the closing of correctional facilities.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has a budget that has not decreased or increased; it has remained the same since prison overcrowding 20 years ago.
Assemblymember Mia Bonta, D-Alameda, has found fault concerning CDCR’s budget, as hundreds of millions of dollars were allocated to non-compliance lawsuits related to inmate disabilities and healthcare, according to the Sacramento Bee.
“At what point is it fair to continue to ask the Legislature to fund — I’ll use the nicest word possible — the inefficiencies of CDCR at the cost of not providing support for other parts of our system?” Bonta said. “Is it another 10 years we should wait for that?”
The department’s aging population and infrastructure spending have contributed to the stubbornly huge budget, according to CDCR’s Secretary Jeff Macomber.
The Legal Analyst’s Office recommended the closure of the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, California. The closing of CTF would be cost-effective because the state would forgo any cost to invest in its infrastructure.
CDCR’s Secretary stated that the resolve to close more prisons could enable overcrowding. The residents who were housed at the closed prisons were moved to other facilities. The closures can lead to double occupancy of cells and longer waitlists for self-help programs.
California lawmakers should anticipate future funding in order to make improvements such as installing air conditioning and catering to people who are in the Americans with Disabilities Program, Macomber said.
“A 2021 report from CDCR estimated dozens of future projects across the state would cost $1.1 billion and $700 million more in deferred maintenance,” reported the Sacramento Bee.
The objective of saving the state $1 billion annually has made the department’s goals difficult to achieve. The department wants to house people in single cells instead of placing two people in a “60-square-foot cell,” Macomber said.
“Single-bed rooms are an example of that,” Macomber said. “Some of those changes have faced stiff opposition from correctional staff.”
CDCR’s focus on education for the incarcerated has made some achievements. The recidivism rate for those who earn an Associate of Arts Degree is at 6%, and those who have obtained a bachelor’s or masters degree have a 0% recidivism rate, according to Macomber.
“It’s a hell of a return on investment,” he said.
The department faces a higher shortfall from the expectations of costs related to correctional staff overtime and vacation payouts, according to the Bee.
California has made several attempts to recognize places where financial cuts can be made. The state awarded a $20 million contract to the Boston Consulting Group to find efficiencies in separate departments throughout CDCR, stated the Bee.
Assembly member Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, showed skepticism over the BCG contract. He expressed shock at the lack of reporting by BCG. He stated that the calculated $810 million in savings was surprisingly less than the $2.1 billion BCG predicted.
“The fact that we contracted $20 million, and we’re woefully short on what (savings) we were told it would result in,” Lackey said. “This was a failure in my opinion.”