Steinberg, Democrats Say They Have The Votes For Modest Prison Reform

The short-term fights are starting to be VERY short-term. Following up on an earlier item, Democrats in the legislature plan to hold a vote on prison reform as early as Thursday, that would clarify $1.2 billion dollars in cuts. And they don't need any Republican votes to do it.

Over objections from Republican lawmakers, the Legislature plans to take up a majority-vote prison package Thursday that is designed to reduce the state's inmate population by 27,300 and is backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The overall package would save $1.2 billion in part by reducing certain property crimes to misdemeanors, placing low-level parolees on global positioning system monitoring and sending older, infirm prisoners to house arrest or medical facilities to serve the final 12 months of their sentences.

The initial plan included an independent sentencing commission that could report back on changes to the runaway sentencing laws at the heart of the prison crisis. I don't see that mentioned in this article, or anywhere else. Hopefully that remains part of the solution. And like the rest, lawmakers can enact it on a majority-vote basis (which means that the solutions wouldn't take effect for 90 days). Darrell Steinberg reiterated his support today.

"I'm confident we'll have the votes," said Steinberg, who will caucus with Democrats tomorrow

Steinberg said the Senate would vote on the governor's plan, but with slight modifications to clarify which elderly and infirm inmates could be eligible for alternative custody and release.

"The intent has never been to carte blanche release any inmates, elderly, infirm inmates," he said. "It never has been, but there has been some concern expressed, so we want to make sure that there are very tight criteria that would even allow for the possibility of allowing elderly and infirm inmates to be released."

I prefer the People's Budget Fix, which would stop putting nonviolent drug offenders in overcrowded prisons, focus on reducing recidivism through rehabilitation and treatment, institute risk-based parole supervision rather than blanket supervision that inevitably raises the rates of recidivism (often on technical violations of parole), and address the most ineffective areas of the criminal justice system - the burdensome, brutal three strikes law, and the death penalty. The People's Budget Fix coalition held a rally today. You can hear Leland Yee speaking about it here and here.

And I hope they keep fighting. I hope we have a sane criminal justice policy caucus in the legislature as a counterweight to the tough on crime troglodytes. But while the Democratic/Schwarzenegger package isn't perfect, but it's the first step in the right direction in 30 years. Particularly if the sentencing commission is included in the package, it will be historic and very important. We will finally end the long march of building more prisons and warehousing inmates without giving them the tools to actually rehabilitate themselves and become productive members of society, and toward a future where we spend less, create more productive citizens and actually make our state safer.

No Health Care Vote Today

Apparently Sen. Perata needs some more time to rearrange the chairs on the Senate Health Committee.

Sheila Kuehl, Chair of the California Senate Health Committee that is holding a hearing on AB X1 1, the Nunez-Schwarzenegger health coverage bill, has just announced that a vote on the bill by the committee will not take place until Monday. She announced that the delay in the vote on the bill was requested by Senate President pro Tem Don Perata, who is a coauthor of the bill [...]

The building is rife with rumors as to Senators being asked to step down from the committee or asking to be taken off of it, and other procedural moves to get the bill out of the committee. With vote postponed, that gives additional time to possibly amend the bill, change the committee membership, and for those on one side or the other of the issue to bombard their Senators with calls, emails, and visits. The outcome is unknown as well as whether Perata will take extraordinary measures to move the bill.

With the LAO report today giving little cover to those pushing the reform (if the average premium is $300 per person, as the LAO expects, the program is underfunded in the first year), and both Kuehl, Yee, and possibly Gloria McLeod wavering, obviously some serious efforts are being made to turn this ship around. The SF Chronicle had a very good article about this today.

Stay tuned. It should be a wild weekend in the Capitol.

Sen. Yee Throws Health Care Reform Into Total Chaos

The massive health care reform plan brokered by Governor Schwarzenegger and Speaker Nuñez has been fraying at the edges a bit in recent weeks. State hospitals appeared to waver on supporting the fees that would be charged to them under the plan, and hearings in the Senate Health Committee were delayed a week pending an analysis from the Legislative Analyst. That hearing is currently scheduled for Thursday, but State Senator Leland Yee just put a major wrench into that plan.

On the eve of a hearing for landmark health legislation, a spokesman for Sen. Leland Yee said the San Francisco Democrat will oppose the health care measure. The move throws into limbo whether the legislation has the necessary votes to move forward.

“The costs are a big concern for him,” said Adam Keigwin, a spokesman for Yee, regarding the $14 billion health care price tag that coincides with a projected $14.5 billion budget hole [...]

Keigwin said Yee conferred with labor leaders in his district over the weekend who were “almost unanimous” in urging Yee “to vote no.”

With Health Committee chair Sheila Kuehl already opposed to the bill, this means that it would be unable to get out of committee without a Republican crossover vote. And even with moderate (for the GOP) Abel Maldonado on the committee, that is unlikely.

I don't think this is the end of the bill by a longshot. Yee or Maldonado could have their arm twisted, or Kuehl could let the bill pass without a recommendation.

What happens next is unclear, though options certainly remain for passage.

For instance, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata could ask Kuehl to grant the measure a courtesy vote, allowing it to proceed to the Senate floor despite her personal opposition.

In an interview Tuesday morning, Kuehl reiterated her position, saying, “I’ve been very clear with all the advocates and everybody that I do not favor the bill.”

She said she had not been contacted by Perata or his staff to support the bill. Asked if she would consider granting a courtesy vote if she was, she replied that she “can’t answer that.”

“In the Senate, we generally are equal as members,” Kuehl added.

Don Perata could also kick Yee off the committee and replace him, although he hasn't exactly been wildly supportive of the bill thus far.

What will happen is anyone's guess. But for the moment, this is a major blow to efforts to overhaul health care in California.