http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-930808.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – Republican candidate Rick Scott roiled the governor's race by proposing to slash $1 billion from the Department of Corrections budget - nearly half. Critics ranged from a police union backing Scott's opponent to former Corrections Secretary Jim McDonough. Yet DOC's new budget calls for closing some of its facilities - a culture change, some say, and a reflection of the bipartisan consensus building for state prison reform. Margie Menzel reports.
Warning: The following ad by the Police Benevolent Union, which backs Scott's Democratic opponent, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, was rated "barely true" by PolitiFact Florida.
"Rick Scott's prison plan would cut Florida's prison budget in half, close prisons, and release tens of thousands of prisoners early - murderers, rapists, sex offenders, armed robbers, drug dealers."
The ad shows prisoners in black-and-white stripes high-fiving and rubbing their hands in glee as they're released, and ends with one mocking Scott's campaign slogan.
"Let's get to work!" [All: "Yeah!"]
Scott did call for a cut of $1 billion in DOC's $2.23 billion budget. His campaign didn't respond to requests for comment, but his web site says, "Paying competitive market-based salaries for corrections' staff, utilizing inmate labor to grow prison food, and competitively bidding health care contracts, prisoner costs would be reduced by $1 billion." Former Corrections Secretary Jim McDonough disputes that.
"You cannot not feed inmates, and you cannot bring officers' salaries down to minimum wage and minimum benefits and expect much quality in your force," McDonough said.
Meanwhile, Corrections Sec. Walt McNeil has just released DOC's legislative budget request. It closes ten work camps, moving the inmates and workers while putting more money toward cutting Florida's soaring recidivism rate.
"A $20 million investment in treatment could result in a $100 million cost avoidance for the state," McNeil said.
Florida has 102,000 inmates - the nation's third-largest prison system - and a recidivism rate of one-third over three years. McNeil says the money saved by closing the work camps will go to programs that stop the revolving door: substance abuse treatment, academic and vocational training, GED classes and re-entry facilities.
"That has been proven to, one, keep the public safe," he said, "that these folks who are leaving prison going into treatment facilities and/or having a job, are far less likely to re-offend - that is to re-victimize citizens in our community."
McDonough agrees.
"It's a very good approach. I laud the department and Sec. McNeil for investing in things that are in the interests of the public - and in the interests of the inmate who, if he behaves, should be a member of the public."
No one is more passionate about prison reform than Republican mover-and-shaker Allison DeFoor. He's on the boards of Associated Industries of Florida, the Collins Center for Public Policy and Florida TaxWatch, all of which support cutting recidivism to cut the corrections budget. And DeFoor notes that the two candidates for governor are both CEOs.
"So you're going to see things like performance measures and benchmarks and things that are normal in the corporate world, but have not been traditional in the government world in Florida, and certainly in the area of corrections are unheard of," said DeFoor. "Those are going to become normal no matter who wins, frankly. So get ready for that kind of change broadly, and get ready for it in corrections, where it's going to be a big, big shock."
McDonough agrees that there are still ways to cut prison costs, but says it won't be easy.
"I do believe there are yet savings to be made," he said, "but you have to push back on legislators that are politicking, quite frankly, for favored contracts to, quote, their constituents - if in fact it is their constituents they're looking after."
McNeil says the work camps to be cut haven't been chosen yet. He also says no jobs will be cut.