Auditor General Jack Wagner argues that Pennsylvania cannot sustain the rising cost to feed, house and guard our growing state prison population. He wants the Governor and the General Assembly to put a moratorium on new prison construction. Wagner is among our guests Thursday night on Smart Talk at 8 as we discuss what to do about Pennsylvania's exploding prison population and the "unsustainable" cost of incarcerating convicted felons.

Wagner released a report last week that estimates Pennsylvania could save $50 million this year and 350 million over four years if we implement more alternative-sentencing programs and other corrections-system reforms. Pennsylvania had about 8,000 state inmates in 1980. Today, the prisons are bursting with 51,000 inmates and construction is underway on four new prisons and housing units at a cost of $862 million. The annual average tab to incarcerate someone in a state prison cell is $32,000.

Republican State Senator Stewart Greenleaf of Montgomery County chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. He has been pushing for these kinds of changes to the corrections system for the last few years. Gov. Ed Rendell last fall signed into law Greenleaf's bill to divert technical parole violators from getting sent back to prison unless they pose a risk to public safety. He wants to see greater use of pre-release centers, electronic monitoring and alternative settings for some convicts.

"It is fiscally irresponsible to build a new penitentiary every year for the foreseeable future. We can correct the problem with some legislative adjustments. We're talking about non-violent offenders who don't need to be there," Greenleaf argues.

The Rendell administration last year dealt with state prison overcrowding by signing five-year contracts worth $250 million to send about 2,000 inmates to cells in Michigan and Virginia.  Wagner and Greenleaf will be joined on the panel by Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas Judge Skip Ebert, a former long-time state and local prosecutor, and John Hargreaves, director of volunteers for the Pennsylvania Prison Society.

Bumping up against the drive to cut costs is the acknowledgement that Gov. Tom Corbett spent his prior career putting felons behind bars. He's tough on law-and-order. When I asked Greenleaf whether Corbett would go along with alternative sentencing, he said, "I don't what's in his heart. You'll have to ask him." But, Greenleaf also noted the tremendous fiscal pressure Corbett is under and the Department of Corrections' ledger soaks up $1.6 billion annually in taxpayer money.  It is one of the top three drivers of state budget spending so it is a mightly big target for reductions.

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