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.

There was a smattering of tidbits today on the subject of prisons -- not quite actual news, but also not just chatter. It began with a background briefing for reporters by Senate GOP staffers, laying out data they believe proves false the belief that California's prisons are full of non-violent offenders that can easily be released.

It appears Republicans either don't have, or aren't ready to share, an alternative to Governor Schwarzenegger's framework for how to reduce spending and lower the prison population. As of the end of July, state prisons were way over capacity at some 167,000 inmates (there's Number 1).

But in regards to the latter -- a need to cut spending by $1.2 billion (there's Number 2) in the current fiscal year -- the Republican talking points are likely to be simple. Cut administrative costs. Cut spending on rehabilitation. Fight the court mandate to spend big bucks on prison health care.

Later this afternoon, corrections secretary Matthew Cate spoke with reporters as a sort-of rebuttal to some of the GOP points. Cate said on budget matters, time is definitely money; the state loses $3 million in possible savings every day a prison budget deal isn't struck (there's Number 3). He said the governor's proposal (which seems to exist mainly as a broad sketch for now) could lower the inmate population by as many as 27,000 in the first year alone.

But watch for legislative Republicans to argue that the solution should be building more prisons, not releasing prisoners. Senate GOP staff today pointed out data showing the inmate population grew by only 4% between the summer of 1999 and now (there's Number 4) while total the corrections department staff grew by 37% (there's Number 5) and medical personnel staffing increased by 219%.

One particular flash point could be the state's juvenile facilities, long criticized and litigated for their conditions and revamped in recent years. Senate GOP staff say the data shows there are now 2.4 staffers (there's Number 6) for every juvie offender. This follows along the public web comments this week of one Republican, Sen. George Runner (R-Lancaster).

Secretary Cate said today that Schwarzenegger intends to cut the juvenile budget "signficantly," most notably by closing one of the existing six juvie facilities. He declined to say which one.

It seems likely that majority Democrats in the Legislature would want more reforms beyond those called for by Schwarzenegger, but there's also a sense that Dems and the Guv could resolve their differences relatively easily.

"To some extent, there does seem to be sort of a consensus emerging that overcrowding is a real problem," said federal prison health care receiver Clark Kelso on Monday.

But tell that to legislative Republicans. One staffer in today's Senate GOP background briefing suggested that a quick closing of the ranks between Democrats and the governor would probably spark GOP legislators to ramp up their PR campaign on the perils of "early release," defining that volatile concept as broadly as possible and appealing to universal concerns about public safety.

U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson denied a petition from Governor Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown to replace the receivership with the more limited powers of a special master.

State officials argued that the receivership has met its goals of ensuring that California prison health care is of a quality required by the U.S. Constitution. They also criticized receiver Clark Kelso for the level of spending being proposed, and the kinds of services the money would go towards providing.

The 24-page ruling from Henderson is probably best summarized by the following passage:

"Based on the entire record in this case, the Court is far from confident that Defendants [the state] have the will, capacity, or leadership to provide constitutionally adequate medical care in the absence of a receivership, and Defendants have presented no evidence to the contrary."

Henderson went on to write that the receivership will be disbanded once the work is done... which, again, he believes it is not.

[UPDATE 1:40 pm - In a written statement, corrections secretary Matthew Cate says the administration will appeal today's ruling. "While the state is committed to providing a constitutional level of care to inmates," said Cate, "we must do so in an economically viable way. The return of control of inmate medical care to the state is the best way to accomplish this."]

It's been a bumpy few months for relations between the receiver, the Schwarzenegger administration, and Brown. Following calls for the receiver's money requests to be rejected, and a January audit that questioned previous spending decisions by the previous receiver, Schwarzenegger and Brown teamed up to go after proposals for prisoner services that included "yoga rooms."

Today's decision is probably not unexpected, considering Henderson is the judge who created the receivership in the first place. "I look forward with renewed commitment to working collaboratively with state officials and agencies," said Kelso in a written statement, "to achieving our shared goal of improving prison medical and health care."

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.

Jim Tilton has served as secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation since 2006 -- the third top prison official to serve under Schwarzenegger in the last five years.

This morning's announcement comes on the heels of yesterday's news by the court-appointed receiver for prison health care that another $7 billion is needed to bring the California prison medical system up to snuff.

Tilton will be replaced by Matthew Cate, who has been inspector general of the state's prisons since 2004 and was previously a deputy state attorney general.