Yesterday the California State Senate, considered the more contentious house of the California State government, narrowly passed a proposal by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to release 27,000 inmate from prisons at a cost savings of $1.2 billion.  California Republicans have argued that releasing prisoners is a threat to public safety.  That may or may not be true, but the fact of the matter remains that the California Correctional budget is not so tight as to warrant to release of prisoners from incarceration.  If the cost per inmate in California is compared to other states in its region, one may notice that the State pays far to much.  Rather than release offenders lawmakers can utilize other budget saving options.

The elephant in the room when discussing corrections funding is the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, more commonly referred to as the prison guard union.  One of the largest unions in the state, the CCPOA wields large amounts of influence over the decisions of Democrats and Republicans alike.  Rather than take on the prison guard union — which pays wages and benefits to its employees that lie far above market levels  and risk challenges at election time — lawmakers continue to take on the wedge issue of prisoner release.

According to the United States Department of Labor (May 2008) the mean average annual wage for prison guards is $41,340 before benefits.  California is the top payer among all 50 states at $63,230 per year while it’s neighbors New Mexico and Arizona pay $27,780 and $37,130 respectively.  4 of the top 5 highest paying urban centers in the nation for prison guards are in California (San Francisco, Bakersfield, Inland Empire and Stockton).

One can see that if California’s lawmakers, especially California’s Governor, were willing to take on the labor union that has a stranglehold over the California Corrections Budget, the state would easily be able to meet its budget saving needs without releasing prisoners.  It is merely a matter of legislative backbone.

In November of 2005 Governor Schwarzenegger proposed Proposition 75, which would have made public employee union membership voluntary, reducing their membership, income, partisanship and ultimately their power over the state’s elected officials.  When Prop 75 didn’t pass, rather than prepare for the next election, Governor Schwarzenegger became a born-again Democrat and proposed environmental policy changes.

Perhaps it is time for our Governor, or another one of our state’s leaders, to consider another try at reining in out-of-control unions, as Prop 75 intended to do.