SACRAMENTO, CA - Facing jam-packed prisons and projections that overcrowding will worsen, the speaker of the Assembly has introduced legislation that could lead to a new prison construction boom, and the state's prison officers union is suggesting the early release of some inmates.

The proposals by one of the most powerful Democrats in Sacramento and the politically potent union reflect the difficulties inside Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's corrections system, in which some inmates are forced to sleep in hallways, gyms and classrooms.

The plans are likely to intensify a long-simmering debate in Sacramento over crime and punishment in California. The state has just concluded 20 years of prison construction, and spending on corrections has soared by 65 percent during the past three years.

While other states have revamped sentencing and parole policies to reduce or stabilize prison populations and cut costs, California has not.

Schwarzenegger abruptly abandoned parole reforms last year, and a bureaucratic reorganization intended to lower the number of inmates who continually return to prison has yet to yield results. Voters defeated a measure in 2004 that would have limited the use of the "three strikes" law, which automatically sentences repeat violators to long prison terms. And an initiative on the November ballot supported by Schwarzenegger will extend sentences for many sex offenders.

"We are addicted to building prisons,'' complained state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, chairwoman of a Senate committee on corrections, who attacked legislation by Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, that would issue bonds to build new prison cells as "a shortsighted, nonsensical approach."

Núñez described his legislation, AB2902, which was amended last week to become a bill about prisons, as a way to jump-start a conversation on "dangerous overcrowding" in prisons. The legislation requires corrections officials to review other housing options, such as geriatric facilities for elderly inmates or substance-abuse treatment facilities, before bonds would be issued to build prisons. The bill does not specify how much money might be spent.

"We've got to deal with the problem,'' Núñez said.

At the same time, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, which has considerable clout in the Legislature, has produced a plan to address overcrowding. The plan has been shown to lawmakers and the governor's office.

The proposal includes building two new prisons at an accelerated pace, exploring alternative housing options such as tents, and allowing some inmates charged with nonviolent crimes to get out of prison 30 days early.

"We should be looking at any option to give the system a breather,'' said Chuck Alexander, an

executive with the union.

Alexander stressed that the early-release proposal would apply only to a select group of inmates convicted of nonviolent crimes who had behaved while behind bars.

Alexander described the situation in overcrowded prisons as "more heated, more tense and more uncivil.'' An officer at Folsom State Prison was taken hostage by an inmate earlier this month before eventually being released unharmed.

The problem is exacerbated by more than 4,000 unfilled positions throughout the system, which Alexander said was forcing many officers to work back-to-back 16-hour shifts.

"It's at a critical mass,'' he said. "We've got a real, genuine fear that we're going to lose a prison.''

California's inmate population has climbed to more than 170,000, and every prison in the system is holding significantly more people than it is designed for -- Avenal State Prison in Kings County is operating at 235 percent capacity, and Chuckawalla State Prison in Riverside County is at 244 percent capacity.

And the crowded conditions seem likely to continue: Corrections officials released predictions earlier this spring that suggest the system will add 23,000 more felons during the next five years.

The upswing comes just two years after the Schwarzenegger administration promised to lower the inmate population through an overhaul of the parole system. The plan was to develop alternatives to prison for parolees who violated conditions of parole -- the state sends thousands of parolees back to prison for technical violations of parole.

Many other states -- including Illinois, Ohio, Washington, Maryland and New York -- have enacted programs to provide drug treatment or job training to parolees in danger of returning to prison.

But the governor's proposal was attacked by both the prison officers union and crime victims groups because the administration had failed to develop alternative programs, and Schwarzenegger dropped it.

The administration has suffered several other setbacks in corrections. It lost control of the prison health care system to a federal receiver, and the last two heads of the system quit this year within three months.

In January, the governor proposed a major investment in new prisons and jails as part of his infrastructure plan. But Democrats balked and Schwarzenegger backed off, instead cutting a deal with lawmakers to issue bonds to build new roads, schools and levees.

Unlike the governor's proposal, Núñez's plan calls for using a type of bond that has been used to finance prison construction in the past and does not require voter approval. Núñez acknowledged that he didn't think voters would support new prisons.

"Voters don't get it. They want to be tough on crime, but they don't want to pay for it,'' Núñez said.

A spokesman for the governor said Schwarzenegger supported building new prisons.

"The governor and the speaker have talked about the issue and share serious concerns about prison overcrowding,'' said Bill Maile.

"The governor looks forward to working with the legislative leaders to negotiate a bipartisan solution that addresses the severe overpopulation of our institutions,'' Maile said.

Schwarzenegger said two weeks ago that he opposed releasing inmates early.

Núñez's bill may spark a battle among Democrats.

While the speaker insisted he hopes to find alternatives to prison-building, some Senate Democrats, including Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, said they would oppose legislation that could issue bonds for new facilities. The state has built 22 prisons since 1984, opening a new facility just last year.

"You build more prisons, and you get more prisoners. That's just the way it works,'' said Perata. "It's time to make some very hard decisions about low-level offenders and parole violators, and we will find out if the political will is there to talk about this."