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TAKE ACTION! Email Governor Newsom Today

📣📣 As California families face devastating cuts this holiday season and Gov Newsom prepares to release the January Proposed Budget, we urge the administration to close additional prisons, reject wasteful CDCr infrastructure projects, and invest in the critical services our communities need.

The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) just released its 2026-27 Fiscal Outlook, which finds the state faces an almost $18 billion budget problem in 2026-27 and structural deficits of about $35 billion per year beginning in 2027-28.

Despite this massive budget shortfall, LAO identifies Corrections as one of the largest upward adjustments. Corrections is the third-largest contributor to the $5.7 billion increase in “other spending,” behind only statewide expenditures and the vast federal H.R. 1-related costs.

This report confirms what communities have been saying for years: California cannot sustainably balance its budget without further reducing the size and cost of the prison system. True public safety looks like protecting our communities from cuts to vital services NOT fueling Corrections spending.

TAKE ACTION TODAY! It’s time for California’s spending to reflect our values!

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Governor of California

Subject: Address the budget problem by cutting and redirecting Corrections funding

Message:

Governor Newsom, As California families gather for the holidays and your administration prepares the January Proposed Budget, I write with deep concern about the state’s worsening budget crisis and the mounting strain on essential community services. This strain is exacerbated by an unsustainable Corrections system whose costs continue to rise even as the prison population declines and the deficit grows. We urge your administration to take three essential actions in the January Proposed Budget: -Close at least four additional prisons to stabilize the state budget, saving roughly $150 million annually per prison and addressing the structural drivers of the deficit. -Halt and rigorously review all non-essential detention capital projects while protecting rehabilitative programming, ensuring that scarce resources are not diverted to unnecessary expansion efforts. Redirect funding from Corrections into core social safety-net services, including food assistance, housing support, affordable healthcare, and preventative care, which Californians urgently need On November 19, 2025, the Legislative Analyst’s Office released its 2026–27 Fiscal Outlook, presenting a stark warning: California faces an $18 billion budget problem next year and structural deficits of approximately $35 billion annually beginning in 2027–28. The LAO identifies Corrections as one of the largest upward spending adjustments—nearly $1 billion above the assumptions in the Governor’s 2025–26 plan due to operational overruns and unrealized “efficiencies.” This is not a one-time anomaly but a systemic fiscal failure. Corrections is now the third-largest driver of the $5.7 billion increase in “other spending,” trailing only statewide expenditures and federal H.R. 1–related obligations. During a time when families are stretching limited budgets, navigating federal cuts, and facing deepening economic precarity, it is unacceptable for California to continue directing billions toward an overbuilt prison system that undermines fiscal stability and diverts resources from urgent community needs. I recognize and commend your leadership in announcing the closure of the California Rehabilitation Center along with other prisons. These actions reflect an important acknowledgment that the state must responsibly reduce the size and cost of its prison system. Yet the latest fiscal findings make clear that more action is necessary. This holiday season, we urge your administration to adopt a durable, long-term strategy that reduces reliance on incarceration, halts unnecessary expansion, and directs public dollars toward programs that strengthen communities and improve long-term safety. Without significant reductions to Corrections spending, California cannot achieve a sustainable or just budget. By committing to responsible prison downsizing in the January Proposed Budget, your administration can help ensure future holiday seasons bring greater stability, dignity, and hope for all Californians.

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