Rising prison costs will take the spotlight on Tuesday at the Capitol

This week will see the start of discussions of the highest-cost items in the Wisconsin state budget, starting with our Correctional System on Tuesday. As mentioned before, what taxpayers shell out for the state's Corrections has been higher than the state's investment in the UW System for several years now, and it's widened in the last 5 years.

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates that populations in Wisconsin prisons will be sizable over the next two years, but won't grow by as much as was feared a few months ago.

For the 2019-21 biennium, as with prior budgets, the Department of Corrections reviewed its monthly growth rates to determine the appropriate rate to estimate projections. Regarding the inmate population for 2019-21, the Department projected a median monthly growth rate of 0.15% for males and 0.33% for females, based on population data through July, 2018, to forecast an average daily population of 24,187 inmates in 2019-20 and 24,659 inmates in 2020-21. These population estimates were used by the administration when the bill was introduced in March, 2019...

However, eight more months of population data, August, 2018 through March, 2018, is now available to reevaluate the Department's population forecast. Based on a review of more recent population data and longer-term population trends, the prison population projections should be reestimated. Utilizing this data, a lower monthly growth rate for males (.12%) and for females (.26%) results in an average daily population of 23,964 in 2019-20 and 24,326 in 2020-21. The revised estimates project 223 less individuals in 2019-20 and 333 less individuals in 2020-21 when compared to the bill.

So that gives a bit of a break from this rising cost, and reduces the need to use "contract beds", which is when some prisoners are sent to county lock-ups to relieve overcrowding and the state pays counties to take on those inmates. The slightly reduced population estimates means that $8.5 million could be cut from Governor Evers' to match the lower contract bed and everyday costs, but we'll still be projected to pay $90.8 million over our current costs during the 2019-21 budget for those everyday incarcerations.

There will also likely be a discussion regarding overtime costs for staff at Correctional institutions. The LFB notes that the Walker Administration underestimated these costs in their final budget.

In 2017-19, the Department was budgeted $39,953,300 GPR and $1,476,300 PR annually for overtime and $8,250,500 GPR and $332,200 PR annually as an overtime supplement. In total, the Department was provided $48,203,800 GPR and $1,808,500 PR annually...

While the use of overtime is necessary in the operation and management of twenty-four hour, seven-day-a-week correctional institutions, high overtime costs have been an ongoing issue for the Department. Under the 2007-09 biennial budget, statutory language was created requiring the Department to report to the Finance Committee every two years on the amount and costs of overtime at each of its correctional institutions. In reviewing the most recent report submitted on January 8, 2019, the Department paid $50,642,784 for 1,805,106 hours of overtime at adult institutions in fiscal year 2017-18. The most common reasons for overtime in 2017-18 were position vacancies, sick leave coverage, and medical vigils. [Note that other positions in the Department also incur overtime costs and are not included in the reporting requirement.]

When you add in the other areas in Corrections that have employees who work overtime, and the LFB says those annual costs rise to somewhere between $64.7 million and $69.7 million a year, or 29-38% higher than what the Walker Administration has budgeted for the 2019 Fiscal Year.

The Evers Administration counted on a $64.7 million OT expense when it submitted the budget, but there are also extra costs that were inserted into other parts of the state budget to deal with the understaffing problems. The LFB notes that these vacancy rates have been rising and causing many of the OT increases, due to chronic understaffing of these facilities in the Walker era. And it is likely to get worse over the next 10 years if nothing is done.

In comparison to other reasons indicated for overtime usage, position vacancies constituted the largest share of overtime hours worked at adult institutions by reported category in 2017-18, accounting for 844,195 overtime hours (at a cost of approximately $23,561,100). This is 46.8% of all overtime included in the report and a 34% increase in the use of overtime to cover position vacancies when compared to fiscal year 2015-16 (approximately 629,800 overtime hours). The average vacancy rates for all positions at all institutions, including the juvenile correctional schools, between fiscal years 2011-12 and 2016-17 ranged from 7.50% to 10.65%. The average vacancy rate for all institutions in 2017-18 was 11.74%. Waupun Correctional Institution had the highest vacancy rate in 2017-18 at 19.98%. In the first half of 2018-19, the average vacancy rate across all institutions has been 13.36%...

...While some correctional employees volunteer to perform necessary overtime hours, other employees may be subject to mandatory performance of overtime. According to the administration, many correctional employees who quit after working for a short time do so due to requirements to perform overtime on a regular basis. Although overtime may be viewed as a source of additional income for many employees, not all employees want to work long hours consistently. Work-life balance is reportedly a reason often cited by individuals who choose to seek employment elsewhere.

11. Position vacancies may additionally increase over the next five to 10 years due to growing numbers of retirement-eligible employees. At the four maximum security correctional facilities with high vacancy rates (Waupun, Columbia, Dodge, and Green Bay), the percentage of security employees who are eligible to retire are estimated at: (a) 4% to 11% of current staff; (b) 20% to 36% within five years; and (c) 33% to 49% within 10 years. Therefore, improvement of employee recruitment and retention now could serve as a preventive measure with regard to further position vacancy increases in future years.

To deal with these problems, the Evers Administration has a number of incentive ideas designed to encourage recruitment and ease the staffing shortages. This includes sign-on bonuses of $1,000 to $2,000 in several places, and it also includes recent moves to raise base pay at a number of state institutions.

21. Pilot Supplemental Pay Provisions for Corrections. With regard to the hourly add-on program modifications recently highlighted by the administration, the Department of Corrections currently has a supplemental $5 per hour add-on program in effect at WCI, CCI, DCI, the Green Bay Correctional Institution (GBCI), the Taycheedah Correctional Institution (TCI), and Lincoln Hills/Copper Lake Schools for correctional officers, sergeants, youth counselors and youth counselors-advanced. The add-on is: (a) in effect until June 20, 2020; (b) only applicable for hours worked (not applicable to leave hours); and (c) not permanent. The site-specific hourly add-on was designed to address high vacancy rates at the state's maximum-security institutions (except the Wisconsin Secured Program Facility) and at the juvenile correctional schools. While the add-on does not address all correctional officer/sergeant, youth counselor/advanced, or psychiatric care technician/advanced positions, the intent is to assist facilities with the most acute needs.

Prior to April, 2019, other hourly add-on pay incentives were utilized for correctional security positions, at lower rates and at fewer institutions. From May 29, 2016, to January 7, 2017, a $0.50 per hour add-on was approved for WCI, CCI, GBCI, and Lincoln Hills/Copper Lake Schools. In 2018 and 2019 (through April 27, 2019), a $1 per hour add-on program was implemented for the same facilities (WCI, CCI, GBCI, and Lincoln Hills/Copper Lake Schools) and was also expanded to include DCI. The hourly add-on was increased to $5 and expanded to TCI effective April 28, 2019.

The reason those specific facilities were given the $5 add-on pay was because those are the facilities with the highest vacancy rates for those types of positions, ranging from 19.8% at Green Bay to 31.8% at Waupun.

If these extra payments for Corrections staff were added to the state budget, the LFB says that would cost an additional $16-$17.5 million a year that is not part of Evers' budget. And that would add to budget pressures that already exist, as the GOPs on Joint Finance and the Legislature have to cut Evers' budget by approximately $915 million just to make the numbers balance after refusing to go along with Medcaid expansion and Evers' desire to end tax cuts to the rich and corporate.

And these are just the staffing provisions and costs to house inmates. I'm not even going into the proposals of new facilities and the staffing associated with those places that were included in Governor Evers' capital budget, but is now up in the air after Republicans on the State Building Committee tea-bagged every project 2 months ago, complaining about the $2.5 billion in requests that Evers made.

Yes, there are a few items in the Corrections topics that discuss alternative treatment and other diversion methods. But after Republicans on JFC removed all of Evers' budget provisions on marijuana, there isn't much else in the budget that discusses ways to reduce penalties or release certain types of prisoners to ease costs and capacity issues. And so the costs of incarceration seem likely to keep going up in Wisconsin over the next 2 years, it's only a question of how much more they'll jump.