Sacramento, CA- Assemblymember Jared Huffman reacted to the Governor’s budget proposal today with outrage as it included a $136 million appropriation in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s (CDCR) budget for the primary construction phase of the condemned inmate complex at San Quentin.         

“This is an insult to just about every major constituency in California, including taxpayers”, said Huffman.  “At a time when the Governor is asking every other part of state government to accept painful cuts – from schools and parks, to services for indigent children, the disabled, and seniors – he’s asking us to spend like a drunken sailor on this ill-conceived project.”

If adopted by the legislature, the Governor’s spending request would bring total authorized funding for the proposed Death Row expansion to more than $300 million. Although ground has yet to be broken, the project’s price tag has already more than doubled, even after its size was reduced 25%.  Last year, the independent Legislative Analyst’s Office urged policymakers to abandon the project and to pursue other more cost-effective options for housing California’s 623 condemned inmates.  

Following the LAO’s report, the Legislature passed AB 1743 (Huffman), which would have blocked CDCR from proceeding with construction of the project until completion of a State Auditor study – due in May 2008 -- on alternatives for condemned inmate housing.  The Governor vetoed the bill, but Huffman says the message was clear:  “The Governor has now heard from the LAO and the Legislature itself that this project should be reconsidered, if not scrapped.  With this budget proposal, the Governor and CDCR are saying, essentially, “we don’t care about the facts -- fiscal responsibility doesn’t apply to this project.”    

The Governor’s 2008-09 budget proposal, announced today, includes some of the most dramatic cuts in recent history, affecting virtually everything in state government:  public schools and universities, healthcare, services for the poor, and law enforcement.  The cuts are especially damaging to children, the poor, the elderly, and the environment.  They would result in an unprecedented closing of 48 state parks and beaches.

“A budget crisis like this is a time to sharpen our pencils and work creatively to balance the budget, not to throw hundreds of millions of dollars into a black hole,” said Huffman. “It’s just a stunning failure to prioritize.  The federal courts are on the verge of taking over our prison system due to overcrowding and healthcare violations.  We should focus our limited resources on that mess, not on a fancy new Death Row – especially when the constitutionality of our capital punishment system is under review by the Supreme Court.”