Auditor General Jack Wagner is no wide-eyed leftist revolutionary. Sure, he's a Democrat, but he also hails from Allegheny County and proudly wears the labels pro-life and pro-gun. Despite that conservative pedigree, Wagner called yesterday for something radical: a compete freeze on prison construction in Pennsylvania.



Wagner believes the state could save $50 million next year and $350 million over four years if more nonviolent offenders-- who make up 39 percent of Pennsylvania's prison population-- were placed in programs that provide alternatives to incarceration. That includes halfway houses, more leniency for minor parole violations, and drug abuse counseling. Wagner points to similar efforts in California, Michigan, and New York as proof that this approach could work in Pennsylvania.



He's right. As we've noted before, the cost of prisons has skyrocketed, including spending on new construction and outside housing. The last state budget earmarked about $2 billion for the Department of Corrections, which was an increase of $137 million from the previous year. As a result, we now spend more on prisons than our entire higher education system.



How did we get here? Pennsylvania's prison population has increased by 524 percent over the past thirty years. According to the state-sponsored Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing, the primary cause was the introduction of mandatory minimums for certain types drug crimes. As a result, more and more people were given longer sentences and the inmate census exploded.



Pennsylvania's $4 billion budget deficit should serve as an opportunity to reassess these destructive policies. Thankfully, there appears to be growing bipartisan support to reduce the prison population. In addition to Wanger and other Democrats, calls for prison reform have come from the Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative-leaning state think-tank.



We hope our new governor is listening. Gov. Tom Corbett has promised to fill the budget deficit without raising taxes, which means he'll have to make big cuts. The Department of Corrections should be part of that equation. Given his record as a tough-talking prosecutor, Corbett might be the perfect person to sell prison reform to the legislature and Pennsylvania voters.