Why Does CURB Focus on Budget Advocacy?
At CURB, we recognize that state and local budgets are more than mere financial plans; they are moral documents that reveal our ethical priorities. These budgets have far-reaching impacts, influencing the quality of healthcare, education, housing, transportation, and social services available to Californians. Importantly, they also dictate the size and scope of systems of incarceration.
Actively monitoring budget developments will help protect our communities from austerity and abandonment. This vigilance is particularly vital for those impacted by the carceral system, both inside and outside prison walls.
CURB works to educate the public about the intricacies of budget processes, which are opaque by design. By demystifying how budgets are formed and allocated, we empower communities to engage more meaningfully in their creation. Together, we can work to redirect funds from the prison industrial complex towards initiatives that genuinely grow and sustain communities and community-based care.
Budget advocacy is strategic. By challenging the fiscal status quo, our beloved community is better positioned to articulate and enact a new vision that supports the well-being of every Californian.
Read Our Analyses and Overview of the State Budget
Each year, CURB provides an overview and analysis of each phase of California’s State Budget: The Proposed Budget, the May Revision, and the final Enacted Budget. Find these and other advocacy tools on the Tools page of this site.
Our History in Budget Advocacy
Over the past two decades, CURB has been a key advocate for changing California's fiscal priorities using a divest/invest framework. A divest/invest strategy focuses on diverting funds from the harmful carceral system, which disproportionately affects Black people, low-income communities, and other marginalized groups, and channeling these resources into community-based solutions that foster public safety and healing for all.
Our coalition's impact is significant: We've reduced thousands of years of draconian sentencing, halted billions in jail funding, reduced prison spending by hundreds of millions, and redirected nearly half a billion dollars towards community care and alternative public safety solutions. These achievements are a testament to our commitment and the efficacy of our approach.
CURB's journey began in 2003, amidst California's $38 billion budget deficit and unprecedented gubernatorial recall campaign. This period of fiscal crisis heightened public awareness about prisons and jails expansion in our state, mirroring national trends. Despite decreasing crime rates, incarceration was increasing, fueled by decades of aggressive prison and jail expansion. This expansion came at a substantial cost to Californians, who were grappling with the effects of an economic recession and severe cuts to social services.
Since 1980, the prison population in California had surged more than eightfold, and the jail population more than tripled. However, in the last decade, thanks to the relentless efforts of criminal legal reform advocates in our collective community, there has been a significant shift. We've seen a growing resistance to local jail expansion proposals. The prison population in California decreased to its lowest level since the 1990s, creating an opportunity for statewide prison closures.
However, those intent on preserving the status quo are attempting to halt and erase our progress. CURB acknowledges the critical need to not just sustain, but to accelerate our public education and advocacy for responsible budgets during this pivotal time. We are committed to safeguarding the advances of our community and creating a stronger, more equitable California.