By Patrick McGreevy
LA Times
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan for reducing the prison population cleared its first legislative hurdle Thursday when the Assembly Budget Committee approved his request for $315 million for alternative housing.
Approval by the full Assembly would set the stage for a showdown in the Senate, where Democrats oppose the measure. They want more money spent on rehabilitation services and drug and mental health treatment so offenders do not end up back in prison after their release.
Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and his caucus view their own plan as a cheaper, longer-term solution to court rulings that California prisons are too crowded to care for inmates properly. The state has until Dec. 31 to shed more than 9,600 inmates from the lockups.
Full story: Gov. Jerry Brown’s prison plan clears Assembly committee