California Awards $167m in Prop 47 Savings to Communities
Research indicates Prop 47 did not increase violent crime, robbery, or burglary, and cost savings awarded to programs that make the state safer
As intended, Proposition 47, passed by California voters in November 2014, reduced incarceration in California. Two years after its implementation, California’s jail and prison population had dropped by about 13,000 and led to an estimated state savings of $800 million (funding a wide range of local-level programming), not including county savings from lower jail populations. The state and counties saw even bigger savings on correctional spending from the large decline in the jail and prison population in the wake of the pandemic.
A decade of research has concluded that Prop 47 accomplished its goals. Studies have concluded that it reduced recidivism, saved the state more than $800 million, and reduced both the prison population and its racial disparities. Researchers have shown that it did not increase violent crime, robbery, or burglary. Much of its cost savings have gone towards programs that make the state safer, like mental health and drug treatment, diversion programs, housing, and victims’ services.
Proposition 36, which is on the ballot in California this November, would roll back much of the progess made by Prop 36 by extending harsh “three strikes”-style sentencing to low-level nonviolent drug and theft offenses. It would cost California taxpayers billions each year and strip funding from critical crime prevention programs that keep communities safe and healthy, like mental health and drug treatment, housing services, and K-12 school programs. Everyone deserves to live in safe and stable neighborhoods, but instead of fixing homelessness, drug use, and crime, Prop 36 would make these issues worse by eliminating programs proven to turn people’s lives around and wasting billions of dollars on mass incarceration instead.
Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom's (D) office released a statement; "California awards $167 million in Prop 47 savings to communities for treatment and services." This funding was made possible through savings from Proposition 47,and funneled to programs such as housing assistance, substance-use disorder and mental health treatment, job training, and civil legal services in California.
"A decade after voters overwhelmingly approved Prop 47, the measure continues to work. Crime rates are lower in California than before voters approved Prop 47 and fewer offenders are returning to a life of crime. The state of California must continue to invest in common-sense public safety solutions that stop cycles of crime, without going back to the failed and unsafe days of mass incarceration," Newsom added in the statement.
Investing in community-based care initiatives have kept Californians safe and out of prison for the last ten years. Prop 36 will increase mass incarceration and worsen racial disparities in the criminal justice system at a time when crime is lower than it has been in a decade.
Don't buy into the fear-based rhetoric on crime.
Read Governor Newsom's statement on Prop 47-directed community funding. You can also read and share a No on Prop 36 infographic from the Vera Institute, a national organization working to end the overcriminalization and mass incarceration of people of color, immigrants, and people experiencing poverty.
