Federal overseer acts to seize $8 billion for California prison healthcare
The court-appointed receiver for the prison medical system asks a judge to order the state to provide the money and hold Gov. Schwarzenegger and state Controller Chiang in contempt of court.
SACRAMENTO -- The court-appointed overseer for health care in state prisons today moved to seize $8 billion from the California treasury, asking a federal judge to hold Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and California Controller John Chiang in contempt of court.
With the state already mired in fiscal crisis, J. Clark Kelso , the federal receiver, asked U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson to force officials to turn over the money he says he needs to bring prison healthcare up to constitutional standards. Henderson, who appointed the receiver as part of an inmate lawsuit, has ordered the state to cooperate with Kelso.
Kelso also is asking for $2 million in daily fines until the state acquiesces.
The receiver, who had previously requested $7 billion to construct and renovate medical facilities, has harshly criticized state officials in recent months for failing to allocate the money. Schwarzenegger agreed to Kelso's plan and included it when he proposed his budget in January. But legislation that would have authorized borrowing for most of the funding was blocked by Republicans in the state Senate in May.
The state is grappling with a $15.2-billion deficit nearly a month and a half into the fiscal year.
michael.rothfeld@latimes.com
