FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 7, 2025

Press Contact:

Ashley Chambers, Ella Baker Center

ashley@ellabakercenter.org, 925-953-2302

Ella Baker Center Responds to California 2025-26 Budget; Urges Governor to Continue Commitment to Closing State Prisons

SACRAMENTO — As California faces dire cuts at the federal and state levels, Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed the 2025 state budget, solidifying funding for legal defense for immigration and people with low and no-income, support for survivors, incarcerated firefighters, and programming for currently incarcerated people. Yet, the budget falls short of repealing criminal fees for struggling families, supporting programs to keep people out of prison, raising juror pay, and funding community-based reentry programs.

“Every person deserves the opportunity to thrive in a healthy and safe community. We are pleased to see the state budget will provide much-needed relief for people in need of legal defense whether or not they have income, for crime survivors, and healing programs for currently incarcerated people,” said Eric Henderson, Policy Director at the Ella Baker Center. “In our current political climate, divesting from real solutions and community-based care pushes Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities deeper into cycles of harm, denying the resources, opportunities, and support they need to lead safe and healthy lives.”

The 2025 budget reflects a number of the Ella Baker Center’s budget priorities, centering the needs of low-income and marginalized communities:

  • $15 million for the State Public Defender to provide holistic legal support for low and no-income communities
  • $10 million to fund legal aid for immigration
  • $100 million in Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding—We encourage the state to prioritize more funding in future years
  • $20 million for the CDCr Rehabilitative Investment Grants for Healing and Transformation (RIGHT) Grant 3.0 to fund community-based healing and transformative programs for incarcerated people
  • $49.6 million in grants to community-based organizations supporting survivors

The Ella Baker Center supports the Governor’s proposal to close one additional prison by 2026—which has projected annual savings of $150 million—and deactivate housing units at multiple prisons. Closing prisons is proven to save the state millions of dollars and make our communities safer by freeing up funding to be reinvested in community programs and services. The prison population is expected to continue its decline to 89,692 incarcerated people by June 2029.

“We know that environmental risks and unsafe conditions inside California prisons take a toll on the health and well-being of incarcerated Californians. We are glad to see Governor Newsom’s plan to close one additional prison in the 2025 budget, and we urge him to continue his commitment to closing additional state prisons,” said James King, Programs Director at the Ella Baker Center. “Still, incarcerated people are vulnerable to the actions, and inaction, of the California Department of Corrections and rehabilitation (CDCr)—we can’t wait for the next climate disaster or outbreak before protecting our people inside. The state can safely close five additional prisons that are vulnerable to climate hazards and reinvest those resources to support formerly incarcerated people in our community.”

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For almost thirty years, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights has advanced people-powered campaigns for racial and economic justice—and we are winning. Named after civil rights hero Ella Baker, we shift resources away from prisons and punishment towards opportunities that make our communities safe, healthy, and strong. ellabakercenter.org