California Democrats want Gov. Gavin Newsom to close five more prisons by 2027. Here’s why

California Democrats want to see more prison closures as the state’s inmate population continues to decline and the state faces a large spending gap.

Assembly Democrats’ 2023 budget plan — released on the heels of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s May budget revision — suggests the state should shut down five prisons by 2027. That’s an increase from their December budget blueprint, which pushed three more prison closures by 2025.

Newsom has already taken steps to shut down three correctional facilities during his time in office. His administration announced in December the state would close several prison yards and Chuckwalla Valley State Prison in Riverside County by 2025. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is also in the process of closing the California Correctional Center in Lassen County.

The state shut down Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy in 2021.

Assembly Budget Chair Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, said the change is the result of updated data the Legislative Analyst’s Office released in January showing California could have almost 20,000 empty prison beds by 2027.

“As a result, we updated this number to five in our Assembly budget plan to account for this surplus of empty beds and the current fiscal environment,” Ting said in an emailed statement.

Newsom and Senate on prison closures

Assembly and Senate leaders are in the process of negotiating the budget with Newsom and his administration. The Legislature must pass a spending plan by June 15, and the governor must sign it before the new fiscal year starts July 1.

State leaders must find a way to close an estimated $31.5 billion budget shortfall while maintaining policy priorities.

The most recent version of the Senate’s budget plan “approves continued efforts to close prisons to reflect the declining incarcerated population” but does not specify how many facilities the state should shut down, nor does it include a timeline.

Senate Budget Chair Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, would not comment on specifics in the Assembly’s budget plan during ongoing negotiations, according to Robert Gammon, the senator’s spokesman.

Newsom in his May budget revision noted that his administration “remains committed to meeting the needs of staff and the incarcerated populations while right-sizing California’s prison system to reflect the needs of the state as the prison population declines.”

Izzy Gardon, a Newsom spokesman, declined to provide further comments when asked about Assembly Democrats’ proposal.

Lawmakers skeptical of San Quentin reforms

California leaders have spent nearly 15 years reducing the state’s prison population after decades of harsh sentencing laws led to severe overcrowding. A panel of federal judges in 2009 ordered the state to incarcerate fewer inmates, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the decision in 2011.

The state slowly began to decrease the number of prisoners in California facilities using a combination of legislation and voter-approved ballot initiatives.

The new laws altered sentencing for some lower-level crimes and shifted certain inmates from state prisons to county jails. Additional changes allowed prisoners to shave time off their sentences faster by exhibiting good behavior or participating in rehabilitation programs.

The COVID-19 pandemic also prompted the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to release more inmates to prevent the spread of the virus. As of May 24, the state incarcerated around 96,000 inmates and was operating at 112.9% of design capacity, below the 137.5% the federal judges required.

As California has reduced its prison population, lawmakers have begun closing facilities as a cost-cutting measure.

Newsom in March also announced plans to reform San Quentin State Prison and turn it into a rehabilitation and education facility by 2025. The changes would cost more than $380 million in general fund and lease revenue bond dollars.

However, lawmakers are not entirely on board with the governor’s proposal. Assembly and Senate Public Safety subcommittees recently rejected the $360 million bond-funded construction elements of the plan.

Lawmakers also added requirements to the $20 million in general fund money that would pay for planning costs.