Dear Supporter,
It is now the beginning of the new fiscal year in California, as Governor Brown signed the state’s 2016-17 budget on Monday. This year, thanks to your incredible action and passionate advocacy, the idea of moving resources away from law enforcement and imprisonment gained serious traction.
But law enforcement continues to gain power as well, and unfortunately, they managed to pry even more money for policing and imprisonment in the state budget.
For the first time ever, we got a major win as we persuaded the budget subcommittees of both houses to reject the Governor’s proposal for jail construction money and redirect the funds to prevention and treatment. But he managed to strong-arm the legislature into inserting it back into the budget, in the form of lease-revenue bonds.