The House budget matched the Senate's inclusion of $105.2 million for TDCJ correctional officers salary increases of 5 percent, but failed to pay for them with prison closures the way they did on the Senate side..
While the Texas Senate budget suggested closing two prison units in the next biennium, saving $97.3 million, the House budget approved yesterday not only foresees no closure of adult prison units but anticipates spending $19.5 million to buy an empty unit constructed by Jones County for which the county can find no prisoners. Locals in Jones County and Mineral Wells, where the Senate would close a private facility, have been lobbying for more units than the state needs, but Heaven knows why the House wants to keep open the ignominious Dawson State Jail. Including the extra money to bail out Jones County, the House decision to buy a prison instead of closing two will mean an extra $116.8 million in incarceration costs over the biennium for those line items compared to the Senate budget.
The House also lowered expenditures set by the Senate for prison healthcare by $14.3 million, but that's $55 million below what TDCJ said it needed for the line item, which took a nine-figure haircut in the last biennium. Unless the Legislature significantly reduces incarceration levels, you can bet prison healthcare will cost more than that.
The Texas Juvenile Justice Department would receive $15.7 million less under the House budget than the Senate budget.
The differences must be ironed out in conference committee.
Via HRO and summaries of the House and Senate budgets (all large pdfs).
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