Pennsylvania's overstuffed prison system could get more space since the state House yesterday approved $500 million in funds for its expansion.

But following the recent release of state audits of six prisons and a March 1990 report by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the bill is only the latest look at the decade-old dilemma of prison overcrowding.

After two days of debate, the measure passed 191-0. Along with providing for the addition of 1,500 modular cells, the bill, sent to the Senate, would fund the construction of four prisons and establish a $200 million grant program for counties wanting to build more cells.

"It's a step in the right direction . . . if people want to have criminals incarcerated, they have to be willing to pay for it," said Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar.

But the bill's critics say more jail space alone will not solve the overcrowding, caused in part by more mandatory sentencing for many crimes.

"It's all a waste of money," said Ted Alleman, a lecturer for the University's administration of justice department. "No matter how quickly we build these prisons, we're going to overcrowd them. You're just making a deeper hole for yourself. The problem is just being made bigger."

Last month the Corrections Crowding Committee of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency completed a report -- requested by Casey -- calling for a "re-examination and restructuring of the use of our limited prison and jail space."

According to the report, construction over the past decade has increased prison capacity by 51 percent, but the rate of incarceration has surpassed that expansion.

If the state had kept construction at that rate over the past decade, housing the inmates would require about $530 million in building costs with an additional $105 million per year toward operation, the report noted.

Pennsylvania currently has about 21,000 prisoners, with the prison system operating at 52 percent over capacity -- an average of one and one-half prisoners per cell, said John Taylor, deputy press secretary for Casey.

Since 1987, the Commonwealth has invested over $2 million in the system, adding four new prisons and expanding four more, Taylor said.

"The goal is to have one cell, one prisoner," Taylor said Monday. "Even with all this construction we're not keeping up with the prisoners going into the system."

By 1993, if incarceration rates continue at the present rate, the state will have about 25,000 prisoners, he added.

State audits have revealed severe overcrowding and understaffing at all of the 14 prisons -- a problem which can lead to security problems and the lack of proper rehabilitation programs for inmates, said Pat Wood, press secretary for Auditor General Barbara Hafer.

"There is no question in anyone's mind that overcrowding and understaffing led to the Camp Hill riot. It is a volatile situation," Wood said.

On Oct. 25, 1989, inmates began two-day riots at the State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill, causing damage estimated at $50 million.

The Corrections Overcrowding Committee report notes that "very little has been done" to implement any recommendations about overcrowding made by the Governor's Commission to Investigate Disturbances at the Camp Hill Correctional Institute, which made its last report Dec. 21, 1989.

Over the past decade, more people are being jailed by tougher laws and mandatory sentences, most notably for drugs, drunken driving and crimes with guns, Gricar said.

In Centre County, the caseload has gone up consistently, most recently jumping from 1,276 cases in 1988 to 1,647 in 1989, he said.

"All these things are eventually going to catch up with the system," he said.

Since 1970, prisons began "double-celling" inmates for lack of room, which inevitably leads to tension and inadequate rehabilitation, Alleman said.

"Their problems are aggravated or made worse . . . it's like letting an animal out of a cage. The system has done nothing to help that individual and whatever problem that individual had, the system has spent $18,000 to $22,000 to make it worse," Alleman said, noting the yearly cost to house one prisoner.