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July 20, 2007 |
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Assembly Votes
to Cut Life-Saving Drug Treatment,
Provide Tax Breaks to Large Corporations
Senate President Objects to
$25 Million Cut to Prop. 36 Spending
Prop.
36 Saves $2.50 Per $1 Invested;
Cut Would Cost $62.5 Million |
| Contact:
Dave Fratello (310) 394-2952 or Margaret
Dooley (858) 336-3685 |
SACRAMENTO, July 20 –
The California Assembly today reversed
its agreement with the Senate to increase
funding for community-based treatment
for non-violent, low-level drug offenders,
voting instead to cut current spending
levels by $25 million. Advocates say the
plan to cut funding to the life-saving
and cost-effective program, in exchange
for hefty tax breaks for large corporations,
is a slap in the face of California voters.
Prop. 36 proponents ask the Senate to
reject the cut, pointing out it would
actually cost taxpayers $62.5 million,
and leave the program short by over $100
million.
Margaret Dooley, Prop.
36 Coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance,
said, “Cutting Prop. 36 does not
save California money; it costs dearly.
The program turns tax-spenders into taxpayers,
by offering people the opportunity to
break the cycle of addiction and incarceration.
Given the Senate President’s opposition
to the cuts, we ask the Senate to hold
the Assembly to the $160 million funding
level previously agreed upon.”
Prior to the vote, Senate
President pro Tem Don Perata encouraged
the Assembly Speaker not to cut the program,
writing “I am alarmed and dismayed
by rumors that you are considering a half
a billion dollars in tax breaks for special
interests…. Even the increases we
proposed to the state’s Prop 36
program - aimed at keeping non-violent
drug offenders out of prison and putting
them into treatment programs - has fallen
victim to concerns about the state’s
long-term deficit…. We cannot continue
to fund education, higher education and
crucial human services issues…by
providing tax giveaways.”
Analyses conducted
by researchers at the University of California
at Los Angeles show that for every $1
invested in Prop. 36, the state saves
$2.50. For program completers, savings
increases to $4 per $1 spent. UCLA research
has also found that Prop. 36 needs a minimum
of $228.6 million in funding to provide
adequate services—over $100 million
more than the Assembly has approved for
the program in 2007-08.
In 2000, 61 percent
of California voters approved Prop. 36,
permanently changing state law so that
all eligible non-violent drug possession
offenders must be given the option of
state-licensed treatment. In six years,
over 70,000 Californians have graduated
Prop. 36 treatment and taxpayers have
saved between $200 million and $300 million
per year. For more information, visit
www.Prop36.org
and www.drugpolicy.org.
Proposition
36 Fact Sheet
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