MEDIA CONTACT: Emily Harris, Californians United for a Responsible Budget
Emily@curbprisonspending.org or 510-435-1176
When & Where: Tuesday, April 29th
- 9:00AM – Assembly Public Safety, Room 126
- 12:45PM – Rally & Press Conference, East Lawn of the Capitol
Sacramento – On Tuesday, April 29th, Assembly Public Safety Committee will hold hearings on a controversial proposal to spend an additional $1.2 billion subsidizing county jail expansion. Members of Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), advocating to reduce state spending on prison expansion, will attend and have joined the call for $5 Billion more in 2014.
“Poor people and people of color have been devastated and disenfranchised as our social safety net has been shredded and our schools were defunded, while billions were being wasted in prison and jail construction,” says Debbie Reyes of the California Prison Moratorium Project. “But residents of counties across the state are sick of it and they are fighting back. Poll after poll shows Californians want a change. Now is the time for county and state politicians to get with the program, or get out of the way.”
A 2014 report by the Legislative Analyst Office recommends that proposals for new jail construction funding be put on hold until the state conducts an analysis of what space is needed and whether counties have maximized alternatives to creating jail space.
The over 30 organizations joining the call for $5 Billion more in 2014 include: ACCE, California Federation of Teachers (CFT), PICO CA, Health Access, Courage Campaign, California Faculty Association (CFA), California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC), California Partnership (CAP), CREDO, Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), UAW 4123, California Calls, Alameda County Community Food Bank, Bay View Newspaper, California Alliance for Retired Americans, California Association of Food Banks, California Child Care Resource and Referral Network Services, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, Community Health Partnership, California NOW, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, Dignity and Power Now, Great Beginnings for Black Babies, Inc, Grey Panthers, Human Rights of the Incarcerated, Hunger Action, Services Immigrant Rights and Education Network, Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, Low-Income Self-Help Center, Parent Voices, St. Mary’s Center, Western Regional Advocacy Project, Youth Justice Coalition.
