California is $2 Billion More In Debt as of Friday

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Jeremy Bearer-Friend

Last Friday, the Department of Corrections succeeded in fleecing another $2 billion from the State, thanks to the rubber stamp of the State Public Works Board. The money will provide interim financing for California's meteoric prison expansion bill, AB 900.

At 10am on March 14th, a standing room only crowd peppered with party reps and journalists from across the state awaited the start of the session. By 10:30 am, the Board had approved interim financing for all three AB 900 bonds in three separate 5-0 votes.

A letter from Senator Carole Migden, Legislative Adviser to the Public Works Board and Chair of the Democratic Caucus, explained, "Due to the State's current financial crisis, I do not believe it is fiscally prudent to authorize lease revenue bonds which will increase the State's structural deficit." Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, Chair of the Budget Subcommittee on Education, submitted a similar letter requesting a delay.

During public comment, five separate organizations testified to the necessity of delaying interim financing for the AB 900 bonds. Not only is California in the midst of a budget crisis threatening to dismantle our already struggling public school system, the Department of Corrections has been reported to have no finalized plans for how it will use the additional money.

But all requests were summarily disregarded as the Board funneled billions into the Department of Corrections.

It's hard to find a better example of bad public policy than AB 900. Billed by the New York Times as "the largest single prison construction program in the nation's history", AB 900 is slated to double California's structural debt over the next few years.

At last February's Public Safety Hearing, both Senator Romero and the Legislative Analyst's Office made the Department of Corrections look more like a paper shuffler than a functional state agency. With the total number of proposed new beds tumbling, projected construction costs tripling and counties across the state rejecting most proposals for the new mini-prisons, it's hard to see much progress on AB 900.