Another problem Governor-Elect Arnold Schwarzenegger will inherit is the bloated California prison expense which is $544 million over budget--largely the fault of Gov. Gray Davis and his catering to the prison guard's union:

The California Department of Corrections is overspending its budget by more than $544 million, and perhaps far more, largely because of pay hikes, overtime and other benefits granted to prison guards by Gov. Gray Davis and the Legislature last year.

...The department attributes the largest single chunk -- $184 million -- to increases of nearly 7 percent this year in salaries for prison officers and raises for other prison employees. Another $168.5 million results from the department's need to increase payments to the employees' pension fund, in part because of past stock market declines, but also because increased salaries had added to retirement pay.

....The Davis administration negotiated a labor package with the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. last year, granting roughly 28,000 members salary increases of as much as 37 percent spread over the five-year life of the contract. By 2006, prison officers are expected to be making $73,000 a year.

The prison guard union is enormously influential in California because they contribute heavily to political campaigns:

The union contributed $1.4 million to Davis directly and indirectly during his first term. The union gave his 2002 reelection campaign $251,000 two months after he signed the legislation approving their pay raise.

Some suggest turning to private prisons. The prison guards union has objected to that. We have a better idea. Reduce the number of inmates. Release the drug and non-violent offenders. Home detention and electronic monitoring is another option.