Gov. Jerry Brown's prison plan clears Assembly committee SACRAMENTO - Gov. Jerry Brown's plan for reducing the prison population cleared its first legislative hurdle Thursday when the Assembly Budget Committee approved his request for $315 million for alternative housing. Approval by the full Assembly would set the stage for a showdown in the Senate, where Democrats oppose the measure. They want more money spent on rehabilitation services and drug and mental health treatment so offenders do not end up back in prison after their release. Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and his caucus view their own plan as a cheaper, longer-term solution to court rulings that California prisons are too crowded to care for inmates properly. The state has until Dec. 31 to shed more than 9,600 inmates from the lockups. Asked whether a compromise is possible on the plans from the governor and Steinberg, Rhys Williams, a spokesman for the senator, said Thursday that they "continue to have productive discussions." The committee in the Assembly, where Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) has sided with Brown, approved the governor's measure on a bipartisan 21-0 vote. Members said they would allocate the money reluctantly, preferring to spend it on other priorities such as schools and universities. "There is bipartisan frustration with the federal judges that are imposing this order and being irresponsible in forcing this state to have to spend $315 million to address this crisis," Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) said. He said the alternative, which he does not support, would be to release felons before they complete their sentences. Corrections undersecretary Martin Hoshino told the committee that such releases would not be "safe or responsible." Under the governor's plan, thousands of inmates would be transferred to other facilities, including private prisons and county jails. The governor has said he needs $415 million for each of the next two years to maintain lower inmate numbers. Several advocates for social service programs and rehabilitation programs testified against the bill, SB 105. It would invest too much in incarceration "rather than putting money into rebuilding our communities," testified Rebecca Gonzales, an advocate for the California chapter of the National Assn. of Social Workers. Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), the budget committee chairwoman, expressed concerned about the absence of cost containment in the legislation, including a lack of caps on the number of prisoners to be housed at each alternative facility. Assemblywoman Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) criticized the decision to pay a higher cost to have state prison guards staff a private prison that officials will rent in California City. Currently, California spends $142 per prisoner per day for inmates in its own prisons and $63 to $67 a day to lease beds in private facilities in other states, according to a legislative analysis. Hoshino said the serious offenders who might be housed in California City warrant the use of state guards who have special training, procedures and skills that private guards may lack. The state prison guard union has been an influential political force in the Capitol and supported Brown's campaign last year for a tax increase to help balance the state budget. The union contributed $600,000 to that effort.