An opening for Evers - ending Act 10 in Corrections

As part of an in-depth article looking ahead to a workable Evers agenda from The Capitol Times’ Steven Elbow, I saw a few places that Evers could change course for the better. In particular, wanted to focus on one place where Gov-elect Evers and Gov-elect Attorney General Josh Kaul could win some legislative battles - Corrections.

Much of the opportunity for Evers on Corrections relates back to the last 7 years of Republican policy choices, including the decision to apply Act 10 to Corrections staff. In addition to the union-busting elements of Act 10, the lack of pay and respect from the Walker Administration has led to understaffing in a dangerous job.

Unions have complained that the 2011 law increased the exodus of experienced guards, leaving vacancy rates that led to punishing mandatory overtime that costs the state tens of millions a year.

A rule put in place by the Department of Justice under Republican Brad Schimel, who lost the November election to Democrat Josh Kaul, made matters worse, [former Corrections Secretary Ed] Wall said. The rule allowed guards at state correctional facilities to transfer to county jails without additional training, Wall said. The state’s sheriffs, he said, pushed the change.

“By that simple stroke of the pen we were training guys and they would complete their training with us, get certified and leave to go to the counties where many of the counties were paying $3 to $4 (per hour) more than Corrections is,” he said. “It was a gut punch to us.”..

But the core problem is pay. Prison guards in the Wisconsin prison system start at $16 an hour after an 80-cent raise in 2016. That’s not enough for an extremely difficult job, Wall said. And Republicans haven’t proposed any further increases.

“Those vacancies have to be filled, and you’re not going to fill them by paying people what they could make going to Wal-Mart,” Wall said. “Those jobs are dangerous, they’re stressful, and I’d like to see a legislator go in there and try to live off of a corrections officer’s pay for six months while they’re getting urine and feces thrown on them.”

We saw similar concerns come up after assaults on staff were reported at the Lincoln Hills juvenile facility. Let me remind you of the words of Pandora Lobacz, a teacher at Lincoln Hills who looked like this after an inmate attacked her in October 2017.

"Your front line staff that's supposed to be protecting the other students and protecting each other are working 70 to 80 hours of overtime every pay period and that's within two weeks," she said.

She blames that on Gov. Walker's Act 10 and Right to Work laws for taking power away from unions Lincoln Hills staff relied on. She added Walker's consolidation of all the state's youth prisons in 2011 happened before Lincoln Hills could hire enough workers for the amount of juveniles they would hold. She said they have never been able to have enough workers since.

The DOC confirmed Wednesday 16 Lincoln Hills employees are not working due to "various work-related issues."

"I'm putting my tiny little neck out there to try to get change because I could have been dead if I didn't have my YC's coming to my rescue," she exclaimed. "He could have actually killed me. And then DOC would be looking at a whole other level and the Walker Administration would be looking at a whole other level of how they're going to deal with this and suppress what's going on there."

I also note that insurance premiums are projected to rise by more than $3.5 million a year, which is likely related to the increasingly dangerous situation that these understaffed facilities have led to. These ideas of the extra costs from INaction should be connected to an Evers budget proposal of extra staffing and in bringing back collective bargaining rights for Corrections staff, and dare the “law and order” Republicans to go against it.

This is where Evers has an opportunity to take care of two needs with one move. He should propose removing Act 10 provisions for prison guards and related Corrections staff such as instructors at the state’s juvenile facilities, and advocate for a pay raise for those workers. Not only would this send the message that Act 10 went too far and can be tweaked (while not going through the controversy that repealing the whole thing would result in), but it also points out that Walker/WisGOP policy failed in Corrections staffing and safety, and that there is a better way to govern.

It also may be more fiscally responsible. The pre-election budget request by the Department of Corrections to soon-to-be-ex-Governor Walker was basically an exercise of “throw a bunch of stuff against the wall.” It called for a reduction of general costs of $57.5 million for staff, while adding $8.5 million a year in night and weekend pay.

And then there was this part, as explained by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

In addition, request overtime of $62,241,400 GPR and $2,438,300 PR annually. It should be noted that in the calculation of full funding of salaries and fringe benefits, costs associated with overtime and night and weekend differential are removed. Thus, those amounts represent the Department's estimated total cost for overtime and night and weekend differential.

In 2018-19, the Department's total overtime was budgeted at $48,203,800 GPR and $1,808,500 PR.

So the Walker Administration’s plan was to have $14.6 million MORE each year in OT pay in a time when Corrections staff is already burdened with excessive overtime and short-staffing. You can’t tell me that a base pay raise and increased staffing isn’t a better (and likely cheaper) option than that, along with reducing the prison population for non-violent offenders and/or elderly prisoners.

In addition, juvenile offenders will be closer to their homes instead of hauled off to Lincoln Hills in the near future - a reform that passed after Walker desperately looked for a way out after things had blown up on his watch.

Unlike Walker, the Dems taking power have the chance to get it right the first time on Corrections. Both Governor-elect Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul can mark major changes in approach while restoring worker rights and competence at the top. At the same time, they should make Republicans in the Legislature have to answer why we shouldn't do things differently when the GOP status quo is failing.