Prisons: Alexander Propose Saving Californians $20 Billion

Prisons: Alexander Propose Saving Californians $20 Billion

Stewart A. Alexander
2006 Candidate
California Lieutenant Governor
Peace and Freedom Party

Over the next decade Stewart Alexander is proposing to save Californians more than $20 billion by cutting the wasteful spending in California’s prison system. Alexander estimates the prison system is wasting more than $1.5 billion annually through poor management and spending abuse.

The waste is rampant throughout the entire prison system; salaries for guards, medical personnel, outside contracted services and facility maintenance. In one situation a surgeon billed the department of corrections for nearly $1.5 million in one year; and one out of ten prison guards are paid over $100,000 annually with overtime, one guard was paid more than $185,000.

The spending abuse has more than doubled since Governor Schwarzenegger was elected in 2003 and the governor has failed to address this growing problem. However the governor has been more concerned with building more prisons to deal with the state’s growing prison population; now over 172,000 inmates in a system designed to accommodate less than 100,000.

Governor Schwarzenegger wants to build two more prisons, at a cost of $1.2 billion to help reduce overcrowding, however many are of the opinion that building more prisons at this time will not offer any short or long term solutions, to include State Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero.

Stewart Alexander is the Peace and Freedom Party Candidate for California Lieutenant Governor and he remains strongly opposed to building more prisons, he says many other problems in the prison system must be dealt with and building more prisons is not the answer.

Alexander recently introduced a proposal to reduce California’s prison population below 100,000 by placing ten’s of thousands of inmates in the homes of their relatives. These prisoners would have tracking devices, none with sexual offences and not convicted of a crime involving violent behavior. Alexander also wants the closure of one, possibly two prisons by the year 2009.

Alexander says, “The state will save more than $1.5 billion annually by cutting waste and controlling spending, and it is necessary to eliminate any unnecessary spending that the governor is proposing. Also the state has a revolving door policy for inmates, sentencing laws that keep tens of thousands of inmates in the system costing taxpayers $100’s of millions annually. Sacramento must now act to help resolve this problem.”

Over the next decade Alexander says, “Better prison management and a new governor will save Californians $20 billion on prison operating expenses, and shutting down death row will save Californians another $50 billion.”

For more information search the Web for Stewart A. Alexander for California Lieutenant Governor.

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