Pubdate: Fri, 12 Sep 2003
Source: Montgomery Advertiser (AL)
Copyright: 2003sThe Advertiser Co.
Contact:  http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1088
Author: Mike Sherman
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)

FIRST CUTS MAY FREE INMATES

Gov. Bob Riley will ask lawmakers in a special session that will begin at 
noon Monday to expand the Pardons and Paroles Board to speed the release of 
5,000-6,000 nonviolent offenders from state prisons and deeply cut other 
state agencies.

In a Thursday news conference, Finance Director Drayton Nabers and the 
heads of public safety and public health agencies outlined budget cuts the 
governor will propose after voters rejected a $1.2 billion tax and 
accountability package Tuesday.

The cuts would affect a broad range of services. Under the proposal, some 
state departments will be asked to cut budgets as much as 15 to 20 percent. 
The plan will mean fewer state troopers on the highways, cutbacks in 
nursing home care for the elderly and medical aid for low income residents, 
and fewer children provided health insurance.

BUDGET IMPACT

Here are some of the changes that could occur if the Legislature adopts 
Gov. Bob Riley's recommended state budgets, Finance Director Drayton Nabers 
and state agency heads said Thursday.

Early paroles for 5,000 to 6,000 prisoners Freeze on enrollment in 
Children's Health Insurance Program (effective immediately) Closure of 
State Trooper training academy State troopers change to work week of four 
10-hour days State troopers limited to 150 miles per day Layoffs of about 
200 employees in the attorney general's office and district attorneys 
offices Delays in criminal trials Reduction in number of people eligible 
for Medicaid coverage in nursing homes Elimination of Medicaid coverage for 
eyeglasses New limits on prescription drug coverage for adult Medicaid 
recipients Reduction in restaurant inspections Elimination of flu vaccines 
at county health departments Cuts in cancer screening programs at county 
health departments Closure of some WIC offices Reduction in AIDS 
prescription drug program Cuts in flouridation assistance for local water 
systems Gov. Bob Riley also wants to reduce state trooper numbers and limit 
patrols

The governor wants to expand the Pardons and Paroles Board from three 
members to seven to speed release of nonviolent prisoners from the 
overcrowded prison system.

"The Parole Board is processing about 75-80 parolees a week at this point. 
We want to double that to about 200," Nabers said during the 
administration's first detailed public briefing on proposed budget cuts.

Attorney General Bill Pryor said, "I don't see how you can release 5,000 
offenders and expect that all of them will suddenly engage for the next 
year in lawful activity." He said 25 to 30 percent of Alabama inmates 
commit other crimes and return to prison within two years of release.

Prosecution of crimes that now take a year would take 21/2to 3, if the cuts 
become effective, Pryor said.

Pryor said 15 to 20 percent budget cuts would require 200 layoffs in the 
1,200-person criminal justice system that includes his office and those of 
regional district attorneys.

"As a law enforcement officer I think it is terrible," Pryor said.

"It's a shame that we look like we are going backward. It would devastate 
law enforcement in Montgomery County, said Montgomery District Attorney 
Ellen Brooks.

Randy Hillman, director of the Office of Prosecution Services, said money 
for the DAs is channeled through his office.

"We are in line for an 18 percent cut. Any cut is devastating to us. No 
doubt it will wreak havoc on the DAs and the criminal justice system," 
Hillman said.

Prison commissioner Donal Campbell said the releases are needed to ease 
pressure on a system that has grown by 1,000 prisoners a year for a decade 
and "poses a great threat to our employees, to the community and to the 
inmate population."

Other recommended cuts would reduce Medicaid eligibility for nursing homes 
and limit reimbursements to health-care providers. The state Health 
Department's programs for uninsured children, and restaurant inspections 
also willbe cut.

A recommended 15 to 20 percent cut in the Department of Public Safety will 
mean that there will be fewer State Troopers on the road, said Mike 
Coppage, director of the Department of Public Safety.

If the cuts are adopted, the Selma Trooper Academy will close. A training 
class of 100 troopers scheduled for January will be canceled. A hiring 
freeze will be imposed; 52 driver license offices, two field offices and 
one trooper post will close.

Troopers will go on a four-day work week, and the 319 troopers on the road 
will be limited to a patrol distance of 150 miles a day, Coppage said.

State Health Officer Don Williamson called the proposed 15 percent cuts in 
the Department of Public Health "cataclysmic."

He said the department immediately will freeze enrollment in the child 
health insurance program at the current 61,000 and allow attrition to 
reduce it to 50,000.

"We will seek regulation changes that will move restaurant inspections from 
once every three months to once every four months," Williamson said.

Multiple WIC sites will be closed, reducing availability of supplemental 
food for low-income women, infants and children, a hypertension program 
will end and a cervical cancer screening program will be reduced, 
Williamson said.

"I'm very concerned because many of these cuts are going to be to the poor, 
to the middle-class and the lower-class people surrounding this area," said 
Connie Simington, a clerk in the WIC program at the Montgomery County 
Health Department. "If they're on a set salary, they depend on the Health 
Department because they can't go to outside private physicians for the 
necessary health care or medications."

Simington has worked at the Health Department for two and a half years.

Williamson said influenza vaccines will no longer be provided in county 
health departments, time for state approval of homeowners' septic tank 
installations will double, and $2 million for medication for people with 
HIV and AIDS will be cut in half.

Medicaid director Mike Lewis said a general 2 percent cut could mean 3,000 
fewer low-income seniors will be eligible for Medicaid-paid nursing home 
beds. That reduction would be phased in to avoid forcing the elderly out of 
nursing homes, Lewis said.

Medicaid reimbursement to health-care providers, including physicians will 
be reduced, Lewis said. He said one-time federal funds will ease the cuts 
somewhat this year.

"Our real devastation will come in 2005," he said.

The cuts would be effective only if approved by lawmakers. Jeff Woodard, 
aide to House Speaker Seth Hammett, said the speaker will respond to budget 
cut proposals after he sees the formal spending plan.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom