By Jerry Burris
Advertiser Editorial Editor

If, as the saying goes, misery loves company, then Linda Lingle has more than her share of company.

Stories last week said the first big task of the Lingle administration will be to come to grips with a deficit (part of it self-imposed because of policy decisions made during the campaign) that could be as much as $500 million.

When you consider that only a tiny slice of the $3.6 billion general-fund budget is open to trims or adjustments, the task is virtually monumental.

But it is not unique. The National Governor's Association recently declared that states around the country are facing their worst fiscal crisis, in general, since World War II. Red ink flows everywhere.

States, Hawai'i included, have done most of the easy fixes such as spending down rainy-day funds, dipping into tobacco-settlement funds and the like.

Now come tougher calls. Many states have taken it on the political chin by announcing substantial layoffs of full-time, civil-service employees.

This is a desperate step because not only does it degrade the quality of state services, it puts solid, middle-class wage earners and taxpayers out on the street. They cut back on their spending, thus further eroding the tax base.

That may be part of the reason Lingle has declared she will not lay off any full-time civil-service employees in her budget adjustments.

So what to do? Cut welfare and support for the needy, such as Medicaid? Cut education? Raise (perish the thought) taxes?

Nothing is very palatable.

One approach that several states have taken, and that Hawai'i might consider, is to rethink prison budgets.

Across the nation, about $40 billion is spent each year imprisoning nearly 2 million people. Is this money well-spent, or are there cheaper and perhaps even better alternatives?

Some states have concluded it makes sense to slash corrections spending rather than social services or education. This does not mean going without prisons; rather, it means using less-expensive means of dealing with nonviolent offenders and nonviolent parole and probation violators.

It is an idea that sits well with the public. A recent Hart Research Associates poll, according to an article by the Justice Policy Institute, found three-quarters of those responding favoring sentencing nonviolent offenders to probation rather than prison.

Several states, including Louisiana and Texas, have followed this policy advice and have saved themselves tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in the process.

Hawai'i today spends around $70 million a year in direct operating costs for prisons and corrections centers. Many tens of millions more go to overhead and administrative costs associated with prisons.

During the campaign, both Lingle and running mate Duke Aiona pushed hard the idea of shifting to nonprison approaches to dealing with first-time, nonviolent offenders.

That approach makes good social policy. As they dig into the books, they may discover it makes good budget policy as well.

Reach Jerry Burris through letters@honoluluadvertiser.com.