The U.S. spends tens of billions of dollars a year on our prison system. Many states spend more money on incarceration than on higher education. Could elected officials redirect some of these resources to other priority needs without sacrificing public safety—like education and job training for people in prison, reentry services, neighborhood policing, community building, housing assistance, restoring cuts to critical anti-poverty programs, or even deficit reduction? Congressional partisanship appears to be rising to an all-time high, but there’s growing bipartisan consensus that our mass incarceration system costs too much, requiring federal dollars that the government doesn’t have to spend. Examining our mass incarceration system through the green lens of a budget perspective may be one of the most effective ways of both reducing the prison population and over-criminalization faced by many segments of our society. Learn how to make your voice heard on these issues. Smart budget decisions could propel us towards a more just future.