Editor -- Your April 24 editorial about prison reform missed the mark on AB76. While well-intentioned, I couldn't support the original measure because it created 4,500 new beds for female inmates run by for-profit prisons. As the saying goes, "when you're in a hole, stop digging.''

I agree with The Chronicle that the state has completely failed in prison reform, and my experience is that county officials are best prepared to handle the state's nonviolent offenders. I supported AB1655, which will keep kids out of the California Youth Authority and bring them closer to home. In their home counties, networks of support can help turn their lives around. AB76 provides none of the same guarantees.

While The Chronicle indicated it knew of no one in Sacramento proposing to backfill beds, this isn't a secret discussion. Corrections Secretary James Tilton proposed increasing the number of women's beds in a July 2006 report, "Inmate Population, Rehabilitation and Housing Management Plan,'' stating that "Activation of 4,500 Female Rehabilitative Community Correctional Center (FRCCC) beds will provide additional female capacity through April 2020."

In a report in the Los Angeles Times, the governor's press secretary indicated his office would attempt to add these beds through negotiations with legislative leaders, regardless of the outcome of AB76.

California's taxpayers deserve better than giving this administration a blank check for costly prison expansion. With Corrections engaged in new prison construction at San Quentin without legislative approval, now is not the time to keep digging.

FIONA MA

Assembly Majority Whip
Sacramento