California Votes to Shrink Prison Population and Reinvest Savings

California voters approved Tuesday a measure to not only reduce the state prison population but also reinvest the savings in specific, high-priority programs.  As our recent report on criminal justice reform and education investments explains, Proposition 47 includes several features that make it a model reform.

Specifically, it:

• Makes targeted sentencing reductions by reclassifying certain offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, for both current and future offenders.
• Requires the state to calculate the savings from these reforms each year and deposit them in a dedicated fund.
• Earmarks the savings for specific investments in mental health and substance abuse treatment, supporting at-risk youth in schools, and victim services.

State policies have been the major drivers of rising prison populations in recent decades, so these changes will reduce prison overcrowding and lower incarceration rates.  The California Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates that Proposition 47 would likely cut the state’s prison population by several thousand inmates while generating corrections savings in the low hundreds of millions of dollars annually.  Even better, research indicates that states can significantly reduce their prison populations without harming public safety.

Just as important, Proposition 47 ensures that the savings get reinvested in specific areas of the budget.  While most states have enacted criminal justice reforms, few have directed the savings to investments in human capital (such as education) or low-income neighborhoods.