February 20, 2012 / by Chris Akins / Make A Comment / Filed under Blog
Tallahassee.com reports:
The head of the Florida prison system said today Jefferson County’s struggle to save its prison has touched off a similar effort by other counties with prisons and work camps scheduled to close by June 30 in a massive cost-cutting effort by the Department of Corrections.
DOC Secretary Ken Tucker met with Gov. Rick Scott for a half-hour in a regularly scheduled monthly briefing on department activities. Afterward, Tucker said they did not discuss the failed plan to privatize prisons in 18 South Florida counties — rejected in a 21-19 vote by the state Senate last week — which the governor can still order on his own initiative.
Tucker said the department faces a $79 million budget deficit, as of the end of January. Much of it comes from health-care costs, he said, along with a five-month delay in closing Glades Correctional Institution, which Tucker said cost $8 million to keep operating until Dec. 1.
The House version of the pending state budget directs DOC to continue operations of JCI, at a cost of $10.2 million. The Senate budget, set for a floor vote on Friday, also saves JCI, with different funding sources and different language about making an economic-impact study of prison closings in small, rural areas.
“Part of that whole closure plan, and doing it early, was to make up some of the deficit,” Tucker said. DOC in January announced plans to close seven prisons, including JCI, and four work camps by June 30.
The move is projected to save about $15 million this year and $75 million in the fiscal year starting July 1. But keeping JCI in operation would cut next year’s savings by $10.2 million.
Tucker said the Indian River County Commission adopted a resolution, seeking to save its prison facility, and that a few other cities and counties have followed Jefferson County’s lead in trying to get off the list. The secretary said DOC will simply have to squeeze efficiencies out of other budget areas — maybe closing another prison or some work camps — to regain the savings lost by keeping JCI operating.
The prison, with 177 positions, is the county’s largest employer.
“Depending on what finally comes out of the Legislature, that’s the money to keep it open 12 months but they didn’t fund it indefinitely,” Tucker said as he left the governor’s office. “So 12 months from now, we could be right back where we are today.”
Jefferson County Clerk of Courts Kirk Reams, the county’s chief financial officer, said he hopes the economic-impact study of closings in small counties would vindicate the county’s efforts to keep JCI going. He said the county commission, which hired two lobbyists at up to $20,000 for the survival fight, knows it might have to justify JCI again in next year’s legislative session.
“I kind of figured that would be the case,” said Reams. “But at least we’ve bought a year. Maybe they can work out some criteria to help small counties like ours.”
Chris Doollin, a lobbyist for the Small County Coalition, is one of the county’s two lobbyists on the prison issue. He noted that the House budget language requires DOC to include economic-impact data on closings in counties of 15,000 or less, while the Senate language would require the department to evaluate the impact on jobs and local retail activity when closing any prison.
“I’m going to call it a prison-industrial complex in our rural areas, for 60 years,” said Doolin. “To close that down in the way that would have dramatic effects, whether it’s Jefferson or another small county, and it creates a concern that DOC needs to look at.”
February 20, 2012 / by Chris Akins / Make A Comment / Filed under Blog
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February 20, 2012 / by Chris Akins / Make A Comment / Filed under Blog
Tampa Bay Buzz writes:
Winner of the week: Florida correctional officers. Plans for a massive expansion of private prisons that would have displaced 3,500officers in 18 counties, a top priority of the governor and legislative leaders, failed by a narrow margin in the Florida Senate last week.
Loser of the week: Mike Haridopolos. Can anyone think of a signature priority the Florida Senate president has accomplished? Not prison privatization. Not expanded casinos. Not the E-Verify anti-illegal immigration system he promised in 2011 (before his U.S. Senate bid flopped) and then promised to resurrect this year, but never did. He says he doesn’t strong-arm colleagues, but banishes uncooperative GOP colleagues such as Paula Dockery and Mike Fasano to legislative purgatory. Meanwhile, he sits back while JD Alexander hijacks the budget to attack the University of South Florida and makes the Senate leadership look like vindictive, ego-driven thugs.
February 17, 2012 / by Chris Akins / Make A Comment / Filed under Blog
Jacksonville.com reports:
Gov. Rick Scott said Thursday he will explore opportunities to privatize state prisons on his own following the Senate’s defeat of a bill that would have required some prisons be bid out to private companies.
Speaking to reporters Thursday morning after a public event on insurance fraud, Scott acknowledged that initially he didn’t consider privatizing prisons a priority, but was disappointed the Senate voted down a bill that would have done that, and said he’ll explore what many backers of the Senate plan said was a possibility that the governor could order privatization unilaterally.
“It wasn’t something that was one of my legislative session priorities this year, but here’s what I think about it,” Scott said. “I got elected to hold government accountable, to not waste taxpayers’ money. So here was an opportunity that the Senate had to give us the opportunity to save a significant amount of money.. Im disappointed the Senate didnt do that. Im going to look at what I have the opportunity to do. I’m going to make sure that we don’t waste money.”
Scott pointed out that there are fewer inmates than anticipated and that it didn’t make sense to spend state dollars on half-full prisons.
“Why wouldn’t we save that money and put the money into education, into textbooks, and to make sure we have the right health care safety net instead of spending the money where we don’t need to?” Scott said.
The Senate earlier this week voted 21-19 against a bill that would have required privatization of most of the prison facilities in an 18-county area from roughly Tampa Bay south. The bill would have required prison operators to guarantee savings of $16.5 million a year immediately in order to get the bid, though many opponents said they didn’t believe the savings would materialize.
A coalition of senators from both parties, including those who represent lots of prison guards, to those who said they didn’t trust the savings figures, to those who said they worried about turning over a critical safety function to the private sector, opposed the bill, which was a top priority of the Republican leadership in the Senate.
Scott’s jump into the controversy after months of refusing to answer directly what his position was on the idea drew immediate criticism from the opponents of privatization, including the union that currently represents most state corrections officers.
The Senate reflected the will of the citizens of Florida when it voted to kill prison privatization,” said Ken Wood, acting president of Teamsters Local 2011, which represents about 20,000 correctional officers in the state. “Floridians do not want the rules changed so private companies can get secret contracts with no cost-benefit analysis and no public review.”
The House never got a chance to vote on the issue.
House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park,said Thursday when asked what he thought about Scott taking the lead on the issue that he would defer to the governor and if Scott pursued it, he would likely support him.
“That’s totally his call,” Cannon said. “I’ve said that my personal view is that privatization is one component of reconfiguring our criminal justice system asset. It’s not a panacea But the bill died in the Senate, so I think as a legislative matter it’s dead. I would defer entirely to him if he chooses to pursue it, I would be inclined to respect his judgment.”
February 15, 2012 / by Chris Akins / Make A Comment / Filed under Blog
Prison privatization is an issue that has weighed heavily on the officers and staff of the Florida Department of Corrections. Yesterday the Senate voted 21-19 to not privatize.
Here are links to this morning’s stories on the vote and aftermath.
February 13, 2012 / by Chris Akins / Make A Comment / Filed under Blog
The Buzz reports:
The Tea Party and the NAACP are at opposite ends of the political spectrum on a lot of things, but on one pressing issue in Tallahassee they are in sync: prison privatization. As the Senate prepares again to debate the controversial issue, the Tea Party and the nation’s oldest civil rights group have issued statements opposing the proposed outsourcing of more than two dozen South Florida prisons.
The Tea Party, usually opposed to more government spending, isn’t buying the notion that private prisons save money. Henry Kelley of Fort Walton Beach, speaking for the Tea Party Network, a coalition of 80 groups statewide, said they are concerned about “crony capitalism and deals that ultimately turn out bad for taxpayers.” He said the Tea Party Network is not convinced that the bill (SB 2038) will yield the proimised savings, and that the group favors an amendment by Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, that would substitute a study or privatization for the plan itself.
The NAACP’s Dale Landry held a news conference at the Capitol Monday at which he said private prison giants such as GEO Group and Corrections Corp. of America are about maximizing profits, not keeping communities safe. Landry also claimed rehabilitation programs in private, for-profit prisons are less comprehensive than in state prisons. ”The safety of communities,” the NAACP said, “should not be for sale.”
February 13, 2012 / by Chris Akins / Make A Comment / Filed under Blog
Casual Thursdays
224 officers and employees have contributed a whopping $2,766 already through the Corrections Foundation for Doggie Dash casual days that will benefit our dog-related programs including dog training, K-9 tracking teams and our IG’s Drug Interdiction dog units. That doesn’t even include how many have registered for the Doggie Dash 8K, 5K and 1 mile fun run on March 17 at SouthWood.
Donate or register for the 2nd Annual DC Doggie Dash today to wear jeans (or COs, you can wear the hat of your choice) for the next five Thursdays!
Book Sale Update
We’ve raised $238 so far at the book sale at Carlton building, and next week we’ll be bringing it over to SouthWood so everyone will have a chance to participate.
Lots of romance novels available with guys who look like Fabio on the cover – just in time for Valentine’s Day!
Location: Bureau of Research and Data Analysis, Room 111, Carlton Building. Books are available for $1 each, suggested donation.
February 13, 2012 / by Chris Akins / Make A Comment / Filed under Blog
Tallahassee.com reports:
The Florida NAACP is coming out against prison privatization.
It’s a big issue in the state Senate this week, with a floor vote expected on a bill that directs the Department of Corrections to take bids on operation of nearly 30 prison facilities in 18 counties of South Florida. The proposal (SB 2038) was supposed to come to a vote almost two weeks ago, but was postponed because of unexpectedly stiff opposition by Republicans.
Proponents say privatization would save at least $16 million in operating costs, because private companies are required by law to run prisons at least 7 percent cheaper than the state does it. Senate Budget Chairman JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales, says the savings could be twice as high as companies compete for the state’s business.
Opponents, including almost all legislative Democrats and organizations representing prison employees, say privatization has never been proved cheaper and better. Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, stopped the bill in the Senate with an amendment — still pending — that would require a one-year financial evaluation to document the suggested savings
Fasano has also argued that prison operation is a proper function of the government, not private business. He has also said the privatization bill is a reward to the big corporations that operate prisons in many states — and which make huge campaign contributions to state legislators and the political parties, particularly Republicans.
The NAACP called a news conference today at the Senate office building to announce its opposition to the plan. Dale Landry, chairman of the criminal and juvenile justice committee of the NAACP, will discuss concerns about public safety and prisoner rehabilitation, among other issues of privatization.
February 13, 2012 / by Chris Akins / Make A Comment / Filed under Blog
From Chamber press release:
Data Shows Privately Run Prisons Can Provide a Better Environment for Effective Inmate Rehabilitation Programs
Educational, Vocational and Life Skills Program Staff-to-Inmate Ratio in Two Large Private Facilities Better Than State-Run Region IV Facilities
The Florida Chamber of Commerce has a strong interest in ensuring that the rehabilitation function of Florida’s correctional system is effective at preparing inmates for a law-abiding life in our communities. As the Florida Senate debates establishing a public/private partnership in South Florida’s Region IV correctional facilities, we believe there is some important information related to better rehabilitation that has not yet been fully explored.
It’s been easy for opponents of privatization to alarm the public by conjuring up frightening images of privately operated prisons, with staffing cuts so deep that security becomes a challenge and rehabilitation an impossibility. Not only is this image overblown, it is also demonstrably incorrect.
Data readily available makes it clear that private prisons can provide a better environment for education, vocational and life skills programs – without sacrificing a strong commitment to public safety – that will help inmates make a smoother transition to their communities when they are released.
The chart below compares data for facilities in Department of Corrections Region IV – the area affected by the proposed privatization pilot program – and the privately operated South Bay Correctional and Moore Haven Correctional Facilities. The comparison excludes the facilities the state has identified for closure (Broward, Glades and Indian River Correctional Institutions). The Region IV data comes from the state’s recent Region IV RFP, while the private-facility figures have been provided by Corrections Corporation of America and The GEO Group.
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Educational, Vocational and Life Skills Programs
Florida DOC Region IV vs. South Bay/Moore Haven Correctional Facilities
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Florida DOC Region IV
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South Bay/Moore Haven Correctional
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Total Inmates
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15,220
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2,847
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Total Programming Staff
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56
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75
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Total Inmate Participants
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3,247
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2,259
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Programs Staff-to-Inmate Ratio
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1-to-272
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1-to-38
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% of Inmate Participants
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21.3%
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79.3%
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This table tells a significantly different story than the one being told by the unions and other critics of privatization.
With far fewer inmates, privately run South Bay and Moore Haven still provide more overall programming staff than DOC’s Region IV institutions. Perhaps the two most telling numbers in this comparison are staff-to-inmate ratio and inmate participation. At the privately run Moore Haven and South Bay facilities, one program staff member is available for every 38 inmates, a far superior level than the 1-to-272 ratio in Region IV. This may well explain why 8 out of 10 inmates at the two privately run facilities participate in personal improvement programs, while barely more than one in five do so in the Region IV institutions.
The numbers prove that rehabilitation programs are better able to flourish in privately run facilities. That is why we believe the prison privatization proposal is in the best interests of all Floridians.
# # #
February 13, 2012 / by Chris Akins / Make A Comment / Filed under Blog
Orlando Sentinel reports:
TALLAHASSEE — With the Florida Senate poised today to return to a contentious prison-privatization debate, one critic of the proposal to outsource prisons in 18 southern counties says the Department of Corrections’ own calculations on incarceration costs show currently private prisons aren’t necessarily cheaper than public ones.
Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, has been railing on the lack of serious policy analysis surrounding the push by Senate President Mike Haridopolos and Budget Chairman J.D. Alexander to privatize 28 facilities. While they say the move to hand over the prisons and some 19,000 inmates to a private vendor like Boca Raton-based GEO Group would save the state money, the DOC records Dockery has unearthed suggest the savings from the seven currently private prisons in the state (which do get to cherry-pick prisoners) isn’t there.
Specifically, the records compare per diem costs per average prisoner between the private prisons and their most comparable public-prison (a type of analysis the department itself uses internally, but which it has not released publicly during the debate). The results: mixed.
The privately run Bay Correctional Facility, for example, had an average per diem of $48.70 per prisoner in the 2010-11 fiscal year, compared to the $43.78 per diem at the New River prison. The publicly run New River, also had to incarcerate “close management” prisoners that are more dangerous, while the private Bay prison did not.
The largest of Florida’s private prisons, Graceville, with 1.,875 inmates last year, cost just a hair less ($34.85) than it’s public-prison peer at Wakulla CI ($36.82) in 2010-11, but cost slightly more (31 cents) per-prisoner than the public prison the year prior to that.
All told, four of the seven public prisons were actually considered cheaper in per-prisoner costs last year than their public counterparts, according to the DOC data. But one of those, the private Gadsden prison that houses 1,500 minimum- and medium-security female prisoners, achieved its favorable position by being compared to Lowell CI, which houses “close management” and death row inmates.
And on whole, the private prisons were paid $46.73, while the overall adult male population cost $42.36 in per-diem. Privatization supporters say outsourcing all of South Florida’s prisons will create a truer test of whether privatization can save money, because the prisons won’t be able to cherry-pick prisoners (although the DOC has already attempted to minimize the number of “close management” inmates in the region). The savings will be required by the stipulation that the contracts be 7 percent cheaper than public prison costs. But in future years, the Legislature would be able to decide annually what to pay the company that wins the bidding.
“The tone of this debate must change. The burden of proof must be placed on those espousing the view that the savings exist. No documentation has been provided proving any savings. One week ago, I asked the sponsors of the bill to provide documentation of their claims. To date, I’ve received no response whatsoever,” Dockery said in a statement.
“As shown in the attached documentation from the Department of Corrections, overall, the existing private prisons are operating at cost higher than comparable state run prisons. It seems the $16.5 million that this massive privatization would “save” could easily be found by asking existing private prisons to operate at 7 percent less than state prisons.”
Here’s the spreadsheet: Prison_Charts(1)
