PolitiCal Roundup: Reducing prison costs, Jerry Brown’s liberal problem

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Felons convicted of nonviolent crimes could be locked up in county jails instead of state prisons to reduce prison costs, says Gov. Jerry Brown. He’ll make the change if he gets approval for taxes to defray the burden to counties. Republicans object on public-safety grounds.

Republicans are not Jerry Brown’s only problem. Democratic lawmakers also are making his life tricky by inundating Brown with liberal legislation. Signing these wish-list bills could damage Brown’s carefully honed image as a centrist; not signing them could cost him political support in Sacramento.

Speaking of which, a bill to prepare California schoolchildren for clean-energy jobs just went to Brown for a signature. The idea is to divert state energy funds to grants for schools.