A Better Way to Balance the Budget

With California facing a budget crisis of historic proportions, we need creative, equitable solutions now more than ever.  Instead, the Governor has proposed balancing the budget on the backs of children, disabled folks, the elderly, students, and teachers -- the people of California.

But our state can't rise to economic recovery while its people are held down and left out. That's why the Ella Baker Center has partnered with the Center for Juvenile & Criminal Justice, Drug Policy Alliance, and the American Civil Liberties Union California Affiliates to create the People's Budget Fix, a series of smart criminal justice reforms to increase public safety, protect the social safety net and save the state billions. 

Learn more about the People's Budget

Help us make sure the Fix is in!

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With California facing a budget crisis of historic proportions, we need creative, equitable solutions that put the people of California first. I ask you to support the People's Budget Fix, a series of three smart proposals to stop the waste, improve public safety and save California $7.5 billion dollars over five years.

1)Ella Baker Center's Books Not Bars initiative and the Center for Juvenile & Criminal Justice propose closing the state's dangerous, dysfunctional and costly Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) youth prisons, shifting responsibility for the youth in the DJJ to counties, and funding local programs proven to work. Rehabilitating youth closer to home will result in net savings of $200 million annually, or $1 billion over five years.

For more information on the benefits of closing the Division of Juvenile Justice, please see Books Not Bars' memo to the Budget Conference Committee, available here: http://www.ellabakercenter.org/downloads/bnb/budget_close_testimony.pdf

Additionally, the Little Hoover Commission's July report (http://www.lhc.ca.gov/reports/studies/192/report192.html) provides a solid blueprint for realigning the state juvenile justice system to county probation departments in a responsible manner.

2) Drug Policy Alliance proposes ending state imprisonment for minor drug offenses and expanding proven addiction treatment programs that have helped thousands turn their lives around. Reducing the impact of drug possession offenses on the criminal justice system would cut annual costs by $1.1 billion, or $5.5 billion over five years.

See Drug Policy Alliance's memo to the Budget Conference Committee for more information:
http://www.ellabakercenter.org/downloads/bnb/dpa_budget_letter.pdf

3) American Civil Liberties Union California Affiliates propose converting all current death sentences to sentences of life without possibility of parole and temporarily suspending new death sentences for five years, until the state has recovered from the fiscal crisis. These reforms will save the state over one billion dollars in five years. More information on the costs of the death penalty is available at www.aclunc.org/deathpenalty.

California's corrections budget has increased by 450% over the last two decades, doubling its proportion of the General Fund, even as the system consistently fails to meet constitutional standards or increase public safety.

Yet the Governor's recent round of proposed cuts barely touch the bloated prison budget. The People's Budget Fix offers smarter, more equitable solutions to the budget crisis. Implementing these reforms will improve public safety and save the state's resources for vital social services. I encourage you to promote these cost-saving measures during upcoming budget negotiations.
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