Suspect Priorities

It makes no sense morally or economically to lock up sick people when it’s cheaper to treat them. Yet, over the weekend, a legislator with suspect priorities may well persuade five colleagues to cut $75 million for two bills that would help stop mentally ill homeless people from pointlessly cycling in and out of jails, prisons and hospitals.

Last week, the Senate Budget Committee, led by Sen. Steve Peace (D-El Cajon), concluded that the state simply cannot afford the $35 million it would take to implement “Laura’s law.” That bill, which passed by a 65-1 vote in the full Assembly on Wednesday, would let social workers and psychiatrists compel severely mentally ill homeless people to accept treatment.

The state is also too broke, Peace says, to set aside $40 million in new funds to help counties offer medication, job counseling and psychological support to mentally ill homeless people. The shorthand for this measure is “the Steinberg bill,” after its chief proponent, Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento).

Peace, who has received at least $124,303 from the prison guards union since 1987, has had no trouble setting aside $400 million in new spending to expand the California Department of Corrections.

That makes him, at best, myopic. The Rand Corp., the Little Hoover Commission and the state legislative analyst have all shown that, far from draining the state’s admittedly precarious budget, the $75 million he seems ready to ax would actually net the state at least $150 million in savings by reducing the chances of mentally ill homeless Californians being hospitalized and jailed.

Even in difficult times-- especially in difficult times--state leaders should invest in programs with both vision and economy. They can do that this year by funding Laura’s law and the Steinberg bill, recognizing that the $75 million these measures would cost now will more than pay the voters back later.