CA May Soon Spend More on Prisons than Colleges

Unless something changes, the state of California will soon spend more on its prisons than on its public universities.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's state budget for 2007-2008 allocates $10 billion for prisons, compared to $12 billion for higher education. An analysis of spending growth projects that prison spending will exceed education spending in less than five years.

For an even starker comparison, consider that the proposed 2008 federal budget allocates only $6.7 billion for running the federal prison system. How many prisoners does California detain compared to the U.S. federal prison system? On May 16, 2007, California state prisons housed 171,608 inmates, compared to 198,108 inmates reported in the all of the nation's federal prisons on May 21.

California's proposed 2008 prison budget sets aside more than $7.4 billion to expand the state’s prisons capacity by 40,000 new beds. The 2008 U.S. government budget spends only $169 million to expand the capacity of federal prisons.

Also See:
California to Ship Prisoners to Other States
U.S. Prison Population Tops 2 Million
Want to Live Longer? Try Prison
Supreme Court Backs Religious Rights of Prisoners