On Friday, a trio of federal judges will be waiting with hands outstretched for a plan from the state of California to resolve the overcrowded conditions behind its prison walls. And it's now looking like a distinct possibility that the plan will not be limited to the pared-down proposal ratified by the Legislature as last week's session came to an end.
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A cease-fire to the water wars that have lasted for most of California's modern existence. A prison overcrowding problem that's about to be yanked from state control by federal judges. A broad expansion of California's commitment to sources of renewable energy.

All that in ten days. Really?
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For those who wanted a quick fix to California's prison woes, some advice: don't hold your breath.

Eleven days after the state Senate narrowly approved a wide-ranging plan to change the prison system, the Assembly has now approved a much narrower version... one which seems destined to sit for a little while, as policy and politics matters are sorted out.
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As we reported in this morning's radio story for The California Report, yesterday's action (and inaction) by the Legislature on a major prison reform bill fell victim to one of the essential truths in politics: a deal's not done until it's done.

And this one wasn't done... which is why we all get to come back Monday and try again.
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It won't be the only proposal before the Legislature on Thursday, but it will definitely be the main event: a plan to save money and lower the population of California's prisons.

That plan, endorsed both by legislative Democrats, is expected to be heard first in the Senate and later Thursday in the Assembly. A spokesperson for Governor Schwarzenegger would only say that for now, administration support depends on whether the bill conforms to Schwarzenegger's prison reform framework.
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That was the sentiment this morning from the President pro Tempore of the California Senate, universally known as a nice guy but perhaps ready to make sure that no one equates nice guy with pushover.

Implicit in that comment from Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is that Governor Schwarzenegger's public prodding on a number of pending issues won't help; one wonders, too, how it will affect the work in private, beginning with this afternoon's 'Big 5' leadership meeting.
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Quick, jot down the following numbers: 167,000... $1.2 billion... $3 million... 4%... 37%... 2.4. They're going to come in handy when lawmakers soon wrap themselves in a one of the most complicated and controversial areas of public policy: prisons.

The return of the Legislature next week will feature an intense debate on not just how to reduce prison overcrowding in response to the recent ruling by federal judges, but also on how to save cut prison spending as part of the state's budget crisis. A lot. And fast.
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It may not be the next step in the process, but you could place a safe bet that the wheels are now in motion for the state of California to ultimately ask the Supreme Court of the United States to stop a federal court from ordering a major release of inmates from the state's prisons.

This afternoon, a panel of three federal judges issued a tentative ruling that orders California to release tens of thousands of prisoners to relieve overcrowding conditions inside the state's 37 prisons.

Saying he and the governor "strongly disagree with the ruling," corrections secretary Matt Cate told reporters this afternoon the state will take its case to the nation's highest court, if needed.

The ruling "would result in the release of between 37,000 and 58,000 inmates onto the California streets," said Cate. "We believe it poses a significant threat to public safety." Prison officials put the current total prison population at about 170,000.

The timing, while undoubtedly coincidental, can't help but be noticed in light of budget negotiations. Talks to resolve a $40 billion deficit are still ongoing, but are believed to be coming to a close.

One wonders how this news might add to the sense that California is tumbling over the cliff... and therefore help instill a sense of urgency in lawmakers and Governor Schwarzenegger.

There are some in government circles who think that times of great crisis actually provide the most opportunity for change.

That's a familiar narrative in the nation's capital these days, and one that the Legislature's corps of budget analysts is now embracing with the following suggestion: shift the responsibility for all juvenile and drug possession offenders to counties... and increase the car tax to pay for it.

Today's report from the Legislative Analyst's Office lays out a bold proposal that its authors say would not only consolidate programs now split between local and state control, but also ultumately free up $1.4 billion in badly needed state revenues.

Setting aside for a moment the political and parochial battles such a proposal will no doubt spark, here's the basic outline (the full report is here):

The LAO suggests California's 58 counties be given "full program authority and the corresponding financial responsibility" for juvenile offenders and adult substance abuse offenders. The current system, in the LAO's words, is "fragmented." The most serious juvie offenders are housed in state facilities, and a number of drug offenders have been sentenced to state prisons.

This proposal says the Legislature should give local officials full control -- and responsibility -- for managing these cases, partly because there's a greater likelihood that local solutions, and not 'one size fits all' solutions from the state, ultimately have the greatest chance for success.

Of course, the budgetary savings is hard to ignore. $359 million of the realignment price tag would come from Governor Schwarzenegger's own budget suggestion to transfer existing VLF revenues ($359 million) from the state to the counties for increased public safety responsibilities. Notice we're talking about the Vehicle License Fee... the infamous "car tax" at the center of so many budget debates since Schwarzenegger rescinded a VLF increase upon taking office in 2003.

The LAO proposal suggests a partial reinstatement of the higher VLF to pay for the rest of the realignment costs --increasing the VLF from its current .65% of a vehicle's value to 1%.

(This isn't the first time the Leg Analyst has suggested raising the car tax to 1%, using the argument that vehicles are property... and therefore it's reasonable to tax them at the same rate as other property owned by Californians.)

The shift suggested in the proposal wouldn't happen overnight; many state operations, especially the state facilities now housing the most serious juvie offenders, would probably keep housing these young people in the short term. Similarly, adult drug offenders already in state prisons would serve out their terms... and the shift to local control would begin with those who are newly convicted.

County officials are still looking over the proposal, which would clearly increase their responsibility over two very challenging criminal justice problems. Of course, the LAO report also seems to give them enough money to actually address those issues, and says the money should come with very few strings attached -- thereby allowing local officials the freedom to actually control the programs for which they've been made responsible.

A new state audit concludes the original federally court appointed receiver overseeing health care in California prisons "improperly" approved $26.7 million in spending on information technology needs.

State Auditor Elaine Howle's new report raps the knuckles of the receivership program for not following proper proceduresl, though the knuckles rapped belong the guy who used to be prison health care receiver: Robert Sillen. Sillen was replaced in January 2008 by Clark Kelso, a law professor who's been called upon to fix a number of state government messes in recent years.

The audit (summary here, full report here) concludes that under Sillen's watch, the receivership operation spent $26.7 million on IT goods and services without following proper competitive bidding procedures. The auditor says that one of two processes could have been used: state government's competitive bidding process, or an "alternative" method for the receivership approved by U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson, who created the receivership a few years back as part of a long-running lawsuit against health conditions in the prisons.

"Staff at various levels," says the audit, "had little, if any, understanding about the competitive bidding requirements imposed by the federal court."

The audit also says that "wok environment" in the receivership offices discouraged staffers from raising concerns about how the IT money was being spent.

In a press release, Kelso said he's taken steps to fix the problems created before his arrival, and to ensure the IT services in question are "appropriate and in the best interest of the state."

[update 10:39 a.m. -- Kelso told reporters in a conference call this morning that he's referred the matter to Attorney General Jerry Brown. Those could be interesting conversations, given Brown's ongoing attack against Kelso's $8 billion prison health care plan.]