Prison budget cuts capture
attention of Assembly members
StoryandPhotos
ByDEBORAHA.MILES
PEFRegion7CoordinatorTom
MAKINGA
DonahueaddressedAssemblymembersat
POINT—PEF
astatewideforumaboutworkforceissues
Region7
atthestateDepartmentofCorrectional
Coordinator
Services(DOCS)October21inAlbany.
TomDonahue
Donahue,aDOCSvocationalinstructor
tellsAssembly
formorethan25years,toldthepanelthis
membersin
year’sstatebudgettookacleavertothe
mostusefulprogramsinDOCS.
“Thebudgetcut40PEFemployeesfrom
DONAHUE
Octoberwhy
budgetcutsare
detrimentalto
theprogramservicesunit,whichprovides restrictingmandatoryovertimefornurses.
thestate
alleducationalanddrugtreatment Currently,159nursingpositionsare
Departmentof
servicestoinmates.Thecutsarearesult vacantinDOCS.
Correctional
ofvacanttitlesandwithouttheseitems,it “Thehighnursingvacancyratemakesa
Services.
makesitimpossibletoreducecaseloads. facilitymandateovertime.Wehave
Inmateswhoearnahighschooldegreeor receivedalargenumberofcomplaintsfrom
successfullycompleteasubstanceabuse nurses.Italsoleadstogreateruseof
programhavesignificantlylowerrecidivism contractnurseswhichcoststhestateat
GaryD.Finch,
ratesthaninmateswhodonotcomplete least50percentmorethanhiringstate
Forumco-chair.
theprograms,”Donahuesaid.“Thebudget employeestofillthesevacantpositions,”
cutsincreaserecidivism.” Donahuesaid.
saidthestateissufferingfromadisease–
AssemblymembersJoeGiglioandGary
poorfiscalmanagement.
D.Finch,co-chairsoftheforum,asked Saving billions
“Wewanttoworkhardwithyouanddo
DonahueaboutPEF’srecommendations MostofDOCSconsultantspendingis
surgeryonthisdisease,”Saladinosaid.
onwaystoreturninmatestocommunities. formedicalandclinicalservices.Itspent
“Weneedtosendthismessagetothe
“PEFisconcernedaboutpublicsafety morethan$181milliononconsultantsin
governorandLegislature.Thissurgery
andthestate’sabilitytoprepareinmates thelastfiscalyear;$7millionmorethan
needstobedonewithascalpelandnot
toreturntocommunities.DOCS keeps thepreviousyear.
withanax.”
mostinmatesinmaximum-security “TheLegislatureshouldrequirethe
AssemblymemberJoelM.Miller
facilitiesforalongerperiodoftime.DOCS governortoinstituteaconsultant
thankedPEFfortheconsultantfigures.He
shouldchangeitsrulesandmakebetter reductionplanwithagoalofreplacing
said,“Itisimportanttoeliminatewasteful
useofmedium-andminimum-security abouthalfofthemwithstateemployees.
spendingandconcentrateonappropriate
facilitiesthatweredesignedtotransition Eachstateagencyshouldbegivenspecific
spendinginDOCS.”
inmatesintocommunities. consultantreductiongoalsoverthenext
OtherAssemblymembersoftheforum
“Itisbetterfortheinmatesandbetter threeyears.Thisplanwouldsavethestate
—RobertC.Oaks,JosephA.Errigo,
fortaxpayers,”Donahuesaid. nearlythree-quartersofabilliondollars
TeresaSaywardandJaneCorwin—also
overthreeyearsandwouldresultin$417
saidtheirgoalwastoensureappropriate
Nursing shortage pricey millioninrecurrentpermanentannual
staffinglevelsatDOCS,andsafetyfor
DonahuetoldthepanelDOCSishaving savings,”Donahuesaid.
staff,inmatesandthegeneralpublic.
difficultyimplementingthenewlaw AssemblymemberJosephS.Saladino
executiveorderandbudgetbulletin consultantcontractstodeterminewhich
relatingtoreducingconsultantspending canbeterminatedandwhichcanbedone
andperformingcost-benefitanalysis,” bystateemployeesatalowercost,”he
Bryniensaid. said.
“We’vebeeninformedagencieswill “Stateagenciesmustbegivenspecific,
receivebudgetwaiverstohirestate mandatory,three-yearsavingstargetsfor
employeestoreplaceconsultantsifthe reducingtheiruseofconsultants,”
agenciescanshowitwillsavemoneyin Bryniensaid.
thecurrentbudgetyear.” “Weestimatethestatecouldsave$730
Brynienurgedthegovernortocut millionoverthistimeperiodbyhaving
relianceonconsultantsfurther. stateemployeesdoabouthalfthework
“Thestateshouldinstituteafreezeon currentlydonebyconsultants.Thatwould
allnewconsultantcontracts,requirea producemorethan$400millionin INSIDESTORY—StateSen.RuthHassell-
budgetwaivertoenterintothose recurringannualsavingsafterMarch ThompsonaddressesPEFReg.8leadersin
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