Prisons seek cost cuts

• By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Feb 17, 2009 - Page: 10A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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The agency that runs the state’s prisons is trying to cut costs by turning kitchen grease into biodiesel fuel.

That was one of the ideas offered Monday during a discussion of a looming state budget crunch.

The meeting resulted in another wrinkle for lawmakers: The announcement that there is a shortfall in the funds used to pay sheriffs for the housing of state inmates.

State Rep. Tom McVea, R-St. Francisville, warned state Department of Corrections’ officials that they will have to be creative.

“Y’all got quite a challenge on your hands. … There’s got to be some innovative thinking,” McVea said during a meeting of the legislative Subcommittee on Public Safety and Corrections.

With state general fund revenue expected to drop by $1.2 billion in the upcoming budget year that starts July 1, agencies are slashing travel, halting hiring and looking for other ways to trim costs.

Lawmakers are perusing state agencies’ expenses, including what they spend on salaries, travel and other costs.

McVea admitted that legislators are “shooting in the dark” until the Jindal administration unveils the state operating budget for the next fiscal year on March 13. The proposed budget will reveal the extent of cuts that Gov. Bobby Jindal wants to make to state government.

However, the administration is floating the possibility of 12 percent to 30 percent cuts to the state’s public colleges and universities because of falling oil prices and flat tax collections.

The corrections department is vulnerable because 88 percent of its $543 million budget comes from the state general fund, which is suffering a downturn in revenue. The agency spends 70 percent of its budget — or $382 million — on salaries and benefits.

The agency’s undersecretary, Thomas Bickham, said his agency is trying to cut costs through privatizing services such as food.

He said the department also is buying equipment to turn kitchen grease into biodiesel fuel.

“We produce a lot of grease at our institutions. We fry a lot of food for these guys,” Bickham said.