Florida governor’s budget boosts cash for corporate welfare

By   /  February 5, 2013  /  Corrections, Elections, Featured, Florida, Governor, Issues, News, State Budgets, State Government  /  8 Comments

FIRST MOVE: Scott propes $4.2 billion more spending in 2013. (photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr)

By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog
ST. PETERSBURG — If Gov. Rick Scott has his way, Floridians will be paying a little more for their government this year.
Just over $4.2 billion more, to be exact.
That’s the final figure from his recommended budget released last week and totaling $74.2 billion, the largest in Florida history.
The budget was [...]

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PA locks down unemployment benefits for inmates

By   /  January 31, 2013  /  Corrections, County Government, Featured, News, Other News, Pennsylvania, State Government  /  No Comments

NO DIMES WHILE SERVING TIME: Pennsylvania law says someone who commits a crime cannot collect unemployment compensation, and the state has come up with a computer data-based way to stop fraudulent payments from going to county prison inmates, like those at the Allegheny County Jail.

People convicted of a crime can no longer get unemployment benefits, or so says Pennsylvania law.

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WI: Competing with prison wages?

By   /  January 14, 2013  /  Capitalism, Corrections, Economy, Featured, Federal Government, News, public sector, Regulatory Reform, Wisconsin  /  1 Comment

Wisconsin's Badger State Industries manufactures prisoner-made goods. In a tough economy, is prison labor unfairly competing against the private sector?

MADISON – Fiscal year 2012 was another tough year for the convict economy, with the recession’s grip continuing to squeeze prison workers.

But while the wages and vacation plan may be nothing to speak of, the workforce can pretty much count on a job with health care provided.

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Closure of two prisons to save PA $23 million next year without layoffs

By   /  January 9, 2013  /  Corrections, Featured, Finances, Issues, Media, News, Pennsylvania, Public Safety, public sector, State Budgets, State Government, Video  /  No Comments

WETZEL: Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said the state will save $23 million from the closure of two older prisons and the opening of a newer facility

Pennsylvania will save an estimated $23 million next fiscal year with the closure of two older state prisons and the opening of a new facility.

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KS: Seven years later, auditors’ questions about sex-offender programs remain unanswered

By   /  December 21, 2012  /  Accountability, Corrections, Featured, Kansas, Kansas Government, News, State Government  /  1 Comment

NO FAITH: A 2005 audit of the Larned Sexual Predator Treatment Program revealed the lawmakers lack of confidence in the Department of Correction's ability to reform the state's worst sex offenders. Since then, little to nothing has been done to address the topic.

By Travis Perry │ Kansas Watchdog
OSAWATOMIE — The Kansas Sexual Predator Treatment Program could face another audit, even though the Larned State Hospital program and the state Department of Corrections have yet to address at least one issue found by auditors some seven years ago.
Recent scrutiny of some state lawmakers has placed the Larned program back into the spotlight after a pair [...]

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