Budget Hearings Bring Out Big Dollar Needs

Published by Lawayne Childrey on 22 Sep 2009 7:54pm
Lawmakers continue budget hearings in Jackson this week
Lawmakers continue budget hearings in Jackson this week
listen

State agencies continue selling their budget request to lawmakers today. But as MPB's Lawayne Childrey reports one agency is hoping legislators will help pull them out of a multi million dollar deficit.

At yesterdays legislative budget hearings, Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps explained to lawmakers why his department is still trying to work through more than 7 million dollars in deficit funding from FY 2010.

"When you got an increase in your medical, you got an increase in your private prisons cost per day, then your jail numbers is higher than you think they gone be, then that's why it's a deficit. But we use to a deficit, in that since '92 the Department of Corrections been operating under a deficit."

The department needs roughly 54 million dollars just to cover medical expenses. Lt Governor Phil Bryant calls the numbers stunning.

"But with the number of inmates that we have, over 700 a month being processed through the ah, Department of Corrections. And understanding that these are individuals are in poor health when they get there. But something needs to be done about it. We're gonna have to look real hard at why we've got so many people going to prison. And we just can't continue to put this many people in prison and have that type of cost to the taxpayer."

Even in this tough budget year Representative Steve Holland of Plantersville says there are things lawmakers can do to reduce the demands on the department of corrections budget.

"When you've got $40 plus dollars to keep a guy in prison versus 10 to 11 dollars to put him on house of arrest or some other community service it don't take a rocket scientist to see that's how we need to move. So I think we need to get into high gear and do more of that,"

Before the Joint Legislative Budget Committee hearings wrap up Thursday they will have heard presentations from all of the big programs including public education and Medicaid. For MPB News, I'm Lawayne Childrey.