California Gov. Gavin Newsom has had a long-running love affair with the state's prison guard union.
In 2018, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association was the most prominent law enforcement union to back Newsom's election.
The prison guard union understood that for all of his progressive rhetoric, the ambitious Newsom could be bought.
When he was first inaugurated, Newsom "behested" hundreds of thousands of dollars from the union to support his inaugural fund.
When Newsom faced a recall in 2021, the CCPOA spent millions to keep him in office. And Newsom has never shied away from returning the favor.
Despite warnings from the Legislative Analyst's Office that pay increases for the prison guards were unjustified and that legally required compensation studies hadn't been conducted, Newsom signed away $500 million a year in new pay increases for the union in 2021.
Good government group Govern for California conducted its own compensation study for CCPOA, concluding, "Even before the 2021 increase, California correctional officer wages were more than 20% above the next highest state ($88,710 in CA, followed by $72,990 in Massachusetts) and more than double the median for all U.S. states ($43,800). That's after controlling for education, experience and cost of living."
No wonder the Newsom administration didn't bother to follow the law.
But here's the kicker: the CCPOA's contract is up, and Newsom is preparing to give away even more. To justify this, the Newsom administration has chosen to pull a fast one on Californians by authorizing a compensation study that deliberately makes it appear as though California's prison guards are underpaid.
According to CalMatters, "Thousands of California correctional officers are in line to get $10,000 bonuses through a new contract their union negotiated with Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration," as well as raises and additional bonuses.
Enough. California pays more than enough to prison guards and to upholding the bloated, poorly run prison system. Gavin Newsom might love the CCPOA, but taxpayers shouldn't fork over a cent more.
—The Editorial Board, Southern California News Group
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