BillysAngel
02-28-2003, 10:56 PM
February 09, 2003
TDCJ officials scrutinize budget
By Mark Passwaters/Staff Writer
With the state facing a $9.9 billion budget shortfall and agencies required to make cutbacks, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has sent a list of potential reductions, totaling seven percent - or $172 million - from the department's 2003 fiscal year budget to Gov. Rick Perry and other ranking members of state government.
The possible reductions were sent with a note of caution that such cuts could leave the prison system in a state of disrepair as well as putting inmates and members of the public at risk.
The proposed cuts were required by Perry, who ordered all state agencies to justify their spending requests and submit possible reductions before the budget for the next biennium is debated.
The reductions cover all areas of TDCJ, from a hiring freeze to the elimination of college courses for inmates and the Substance Abuse Felony Punishment (SAFP) and In-prison Therapeutic Community (IPTC) programs. Agency spokesman Larry Todd said the proposed cuts weren't easy to come by and are not advocated.
"These should not be considered recommendations; they are simply our compliance with instructions given us," he said. "We simply answered the question, if you had to cut - the big if - what would you cut?"
Listed in the possible reductions are $3.9 million in prison and mental health care, $4.4 million in community corrections and diversion programs and $2.4 million by eliminating approximately 10 percent of the agency's administrative staff and the position of recreational specialist.
In a letter to state leaders, TDCJ Executive Director Gary Johnson said the proposed cuts, through the ending of programs and elimination of positions, would cause in 800 jobs to be lost.
"Some of these positions are administrative in nature, but some also provide direct services to the offender population," he wrote.
"There are going to be job cuts," Todd said. "There's no way around it."
TDCJ also sent a number of more drastic proposals, including the elimination of the 18-month sex offender treatment program, all inmate substance abuse treatment programs, the SAFP and IPTC programs and drastic cuts to the correctional managed health care system. In his letter, Johnson said acceptance of those proposals would have serious consequences for the agency.
"In my opinion the impact of eliminating substance abuse treatment programs ... and dramatically reducing funding for similar programs serving parolees and probationers, would achieve short-term savings at a far greater long-term cost," he said. "In combination with the other possible budget reductions impacting education and vocational programs, the cumulative effect may not be limited to increased recidivism."
Johnson said possible cuts to offender heath care "could result in the denial or delay of access to needed medical care and risk violating constitutional standards."
"(The cuts) would seriously jeopardize the viability of the health care delivery system," he said.
Todd said any cuts to TDCJ's budget have implications not only to agency employees but the public as a whole.
"The dollars we identified, just like all the dollars we use - or don't use - have public safety ramifications," he said. "Hopefully, we have de-prioritized these dollars in a manner which would not immediately imperil public safety should cuts come about."
TDCJ officials scrutinize budget
By Mark Passwaters/Staff Writer
With the state facing a $9.9 billion budget shortfall and agencies required to make cutbacks, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has sent a list of potential reductions, totaling seven percent - or $172 million - from the department's 2003 fiscal year budget to Gov. Rick Perry and other ranking members of state government.
The possible reductions were sent with a note of caution that such cuts could leave the prison system in a state of disrepair as well as putting inmates and members of the public at risk.
The proposed cuts were required by Perry, who ordered all state agencies to justify their spending requests and submit possible reductions before the budget for the next biennium is debated.
The reductions cover all areas of TDCJ, from a hiring freeze to the elimination of college courses for inmates and the Substance Abuse Felony Punishment (SAFP) and In-prison Therapeutic Community (IPTC) programs. Agency spokesman Larry Todd said the proposed cuts weren't easy to come by and are not advocated.
"These should not be considered recommendations; they are simply our compliance with instructions given us," he said. "We simply answered the question, if you had to cut - the big if - what would you cut?"
Listed in the possible reductions are $3.9 million in prison and mental health care, $4.4 million in community corrections and diversion programs and $2.4 million by eliminating approximately 10 percent of the agency's administrative staff and the position of recreational specialist.
In a letter to state leaders, TDCJ Executive Director Gary Johnson said the proposed cuts, through the ending of programs and elimination of positions, would cause in 800 jobs to be lost.
"Some of these positions are administrative in nature, but some also provide direct services to the offender population," he wrote.
"There are going to be job cuts," Todd said. "There's no way around it."
TDCJ also sent a number of more drastic proposals, including the elimination of the 18-month sex offender treatment program, all inmate substance abuse treatment programs, the SAFP and IPTC programs and drastic cuts to the correctional managed health care system. In his letter, Johnson said acceptance of those proposals would have serious consequences for the agency.
"In my opinion the impact of eliminating substance abuse treatment programs ... and dramatically reducing funding for similar programs serving parolees and probationers, would achieve short-term savings at a far greater long-term cost," he said. "In combination with the other possible budget reductions impacting education and vocational programs, the cumulative effect may not be limited to increased recidivism."
Johnson said possible cuts to offender heath care "could result in the denial or delay of access to needed medical care and risk violating constitutional standards."
"(The cuts) would seriously jeopardize the viability of the health care delivery system," he said.
Todd said any cuts to TDCJ's budget have implications not only to agency employees but the public as a whole.
"The dollars we identified, just like all the dollars we use - or don't use - have public safety ramifications," he said. "Hopefully, we have de-prioritized these dollars in a manner which would not immediately imperil public safety should cuts come about."