Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/26110
Tuesday, March 1, 2011 – Daily News – 5B Backlash prompts Brown to alter realignment plan SACRAMENTO (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown altered his proposal to realign certain state and local govern- ment responsibilities Monday after criticism from local law enforcement authorities but still expects substantial savings in the years ahead if the Legis- lature approves the plan. The state would continue to oversee more dangerous parolees and juvenile offenders rather than having them placed in county jails or monitored by local officials, aides to the Democratic governor said. Under the administra- tion’s revised plan, counties would focus on handling lower-risk offenders and parolees. Pushing some corrections and law enforcement-related functions to local governments was one way Brown sought to save money as California faces a $26.6 billion deficit. In exchange for the state incarcerat- ing and supervising more inmates than under his original plan, Brown pro- posed that the state would provide counties with less money for other pro- grams. Those would include counsel- ing for rape victims, assessing the potential for certain inmates to be sex- ually violent offenders and training for some local law enforcement officers. Most convicts who are not sex offenders or are considered nonserious offenders and nonviolent would be housed in county jails, as Brown pro- posed in his January budget. The administration also agreed to pay counties more money for housing inmates who will serve more than three years in local jails. Monday. Counties would be responsible for supervising nonviolent offenders after their release from custody. But under Brown’s revised plan, the state would continue to supervise high-risk sex offenders, those who completed serv- ing a sentence for a serious or violent crime and those with a third ‘‘strike,’’ or conviction. For example, the state now super- vises parolees who had served time for such offenses as petty theft with a prior conviction, drug possession, grand theft and fraud. Under Brown’s gov- ernment realignment, that responsibili- ty would shift to county probation offi- cers. However, the administration’s revised plan addresses the concerns of law enforcement officials by ensuring that more serious crimes would merit incarceration in state prisons and parolee supervision by state parole agents. Those crimes include solicita- tion for murder, felony child abuse, felony domestic violence assault on a peace officer and human trafficking Brown’s revised plan also would let counties contract with the California Division of Juvenile Justice to handle violent youth. His January budget pro- posed eliminating the division alto- gether. ‘‘I do think we try to listen to law enforcement and the concerns that they had,’’ Brown’s special budget adviser, Diane Cummins, told a legislative con- ference committee on Monday. ‘‘I think this should make them more comfortable.’’ Even with the changes, the adminis- tration says its latest realignment pro- posal will save $2 billion once it is fully implemented in four years and reduce the prison population by 38,000 inmates — the estimated number of lower-level offenders the state hopes to transfer to county jurisdiction. The pro- posals would affect only offenders con- victed after the budget takes effect. Current inmates and parolees would remain under the state’s supervision. The full savings would come only if the state reduces its inmate population enough to close some prisons, said Todd Jerue, a program manager with the state Department of Finance. That, however, could be affected by a pending U.S. Supreme Court deci- sion over whether the state must reduce prison crowding to improve medical and mental health treatment for inmates. Closing some prisons to save money would leave others more crowded, potentially putting the state in conflict with the federal court receiver who is overseeing inmate medical care. ‘‘We think it’s markedly better than the original plan,’’ said Nick Warner, spokesman for the California State Sheriffs’ Association. ‘‘We appreciate the governor listening to the concerns from local public safety, from sheriffs, and we intend to take a more formal position in coming days.’’ Karen Pank, spokeswoman for the Chief Probation Officers Association of California, said her organization supports the revised plan in concept. In a letter to Brown, her association simi- larly asked that funding for counties be guaranteed. Wis. gov. to outline ultimate intentions in budget MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s explosive proposal to take nearly all collective bargaining rights away from most public workers repre- sents just one piece of his vision for the state’s future. Now he’s ready to reveal the rest. With the union rights proposal stuck in a legisla- tive stalemate thanks to the state Senate’s runaway Democrats, the Republican governor planned to forge ahead with the Tuesday release of his two-year spending plan that will include major cuts to schools and local govern- ments to help close a pro- jected $3.6 billion budget shortfall. Walker says his collective bargaining mea- sure would free local gov- ernments from having to bargain with public employ- ee unions as they deal with the cuts he’ll outline Tues- day. Schools last week start- ed putting teachers on notice that their contracts may not be renewed for next year given the budget uncertain- ty. Walker has confirmed he will propose cutting educa- tion aid by about $900 mil- lion, or 9 percent statewide. ‘‘All of this turmoil, all of this chaos, are examples that Walker’s proposals are too extreme,’’ said Mary Bell, president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council. She said more than 2,000 teachers had received nonrenewal notices as of Labor leaders and Democratic lawmakers say Walker’s proposal is intend- ed to undermine unions and weaken a key Democratic voter base. The state’s largest public employee union filed a complaint Monday alleging Walker has engaged in unfair labor practices by refusing to negotiate. The Wisconsin State Employees Union complaint asked the state labor relations board to extend its contract and require Walker’s administra- tion to engage in collective bargaining. Walker insists Wisconsin is broke and has nothing to offer. He spent another day touring the state Monday, renewing his threat of deeper cuts and layoffs if his proposal isn’t passed by Tuesday. If the state misses that deadline, it won’t be able to save $165 million through debt refinancing, which was a key part of his bill, Walker said. Walker has warned he will start issuing layoff notices to state workers as soon as this week if the bill isn’t passed, but he hasn’t said who would be targeted. School leaders are brac- ing for more bad news. The governor is expected Tuesday to announce a new revenue limit that would require a $500 per-pupil reduction in property tax authority. The limits, in place since 1993, have grad- ually grown to reflect increasing education costs. That part of Walker’s pro- posal alone would reduce the money available to the state’s 424 districts by 7 per- cent, or nearly $600 million, based on a study done by University of Wisconsin- Madison economics profes- sor Andrew Reschovsky. “When you make unprecedented and historic cuts like these to schools, it means teachers are laid off, class sizes are larger, course offerings are reduced, extracurricular activities are cut, and whole parts of what we value in our schools are gone,” state superintendent Tony Evers said in a state- ment. In Janesville, a district with about 10,000 students, the school expects to get about a $5 million cut in aid, said David Parr, president of the local teachers union. The district already is considering laying off up to 60 of its teachers to deal with a nearly $10 million budget deficit this year, Parr said. The teachers also have been asked to re-open con- tracts that are in effect until mid-2013, he said. ‘‘If we don’t reopen the contract, that means they would have to cut teachers,’’ Parr said. ‘‘That’s the bot- tom line. There aren’t a lot of options left.’’ The Wisconsin Associa- tion of School Boards says the changes stripping work- ers’ collective bargaining rights wouldn’t take effect until an existing agreement expires or is extended, mod- ified or renewed. Teachers in Janesville are terrified to reopen their con- tracts, Parr said. ‘‘The whole district is walking on eggshells,’’ Parr said. ‘‘Teachers are upset, aides are upset, the adminis- tration is upset, school board members are upset.’’ A large state aid cut also could force Milwaukee Pub- lic Schools, the state’s largest district, to lay off teachers. Their four-year contract runs until 2013. Reschovsky’s analysis says the district stands to lose $60 million under Walker’s rev- enue limit reduction alone. A spokesman for the dis- trict declined to comment. Wisconsin’s average teacher salary of about $48,000 ranks in the top half of states nationally, though it remains significantly behind the $60,000 average salaries in the top-paying states of California and Connecticut, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures. Wisconsin students also rank in the top half nationally on standard- ized tests, scoring a full per- centage point better than average on the ACT college entrance exam. Walker’s stalled collec- tive bargaining proposal would require state workers to contribute 5.8 percent of their salaries toward pen- sions and double their health insurance contribution beginning April 1. Those changes would be expanded to nearly all other public workers, except those oper- ating under existing union contracts, beginning July 1. The higher benefit con- tribution would equate to an 8 percent pay decrease for the average worker. The state would save $30 million this fiscal year and $300 million over the next two years. Walker said not real- izing those savings would mean laying off 1,500 work- ers between now and July and 12,000 state and local employees over the next two years. The statewide teachers union and state workers unions, in an attempt to compromise with Walker, have said they will agree to the benefit concessions as long as they retain collective bargaining rights. The bill takes away collective bar- gaining except over wage increases that don’t go above the rate of inflation. Americans oppose efforts to weaken the collec- tive bargaining rights of public employee unions by a margin of almost two to one — 60 percent to 33 percent — according to the latest New York Times/CBS poll. Tehama County’s Personal/Professional Service Directory Bankruptcy Attorney Local Bankruptcy Attorney Jocelyn C. 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