In the depths of the worst recession since World War II, California may be giving birth to a new export industry. It's an export in which California appears to have important competitive advantages. And it may be recession-proof.
The export is prison inmates.
California has something of a head start in this market. The state already has sent 7,600 inmates to private prisons in Arizona, Tennessee, Mississippi and Oklahoma. But it hasn't yet sent inmates to public prisons in other states.
Like other economic innovations, this one required a visionary leader willing to think outside the box. For prisons, it appears to be Gov. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan. Her state is closing several prisons – not, it says, because of the recession but because an innovative re-entry program has sharply cut recidivism.
California's predicament is different. It has 168,000 inmates in a system built for half that number. A judicial panel's tentative ruling has called for the release of as many as 55,000 of those inmates.
Granholm and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had already informally discussed the fact that the two states' predicaments offered the chance for a mutually beneficial relationship. On Monday, Granholm formalized the offer in a letter.
An agreement wouldn't just ease some of California's prison overcrowding. It would also likely save the state money. Our per-inmate cost, $45,000, is the highest in the nation. Michigan's is $32,500 per year. Some of that difference would presumably flow back to the general fund. Sending inmates to the Midwest would also save the jobs of some Michigan prison workers slated to be laid off.
We don't think inmates should be the basis of a long-term export industry for California. Eventually, the state will have to align the number of inmates in its prisons with its capacity to provide them with housing and health care. But in the short run, sending inmates to Michigan could help both states.
In a time of crisis, it's help that neither state is in a position to refuse.
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