According to a bulletin from the Iowa Democratic Party, at their September meeting, the Board of Corrections adopted a budget proposal for fiscal year 2019 which asks for an increase of $1 million for pharmaceuticals and noted that they cannot afford to lose any more correctional officers. The Board members will be writing a letter to the Governor expressing the dire need for salary adjustment money for fiscal year 2019.
Fiscal year 2019 (FY 2019) runs from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019, and the Department of Corrections (DOC) report that they haven’t been getting an increase in funding to correspond with the medical needs of prisoners. With more prisoners over the age of 50 and an aging population, the need for medications has increased. The medical director of the DOC mentioned that while there’s not high costs associated with the treatment of opioids, the high costs come with the treatment of the developed blood borne diseases of Hepatitis C and HIV that opioid addicts are likely to get.
The DOC also reported that they cannot afford to go down in staffing numbers, so they are asking for salary adjustment money in FY 2019. Salary adjustment money covers the adjustments to salaries that were negotiated through contracts that the agency is obligated to pay. Of the department’s total budget, 81% is spent on personnel and 14% on food, medical, and housing.
If the Dem’s would go to work and quit sucking off the public there would be more taxes paid and more money to put more Dem’s in jail. Problem solved.
If republicans would quit giving away our tax dollars to multi billion dollar company’s in to form of tax breaks and lining the pockets of their CEO buddies then we would have the funds needed.
On a local level it seems some have bit off more than they can chew. Arrests have skyrocketed in recent years as the cost of paying for an expensive lock up and other shortfalls in cash to maintain a program of ‘we need more money’ mentality. The word rackets come to mind as to the blatant abuses that are all to obvious. What a sham. The old country road ain’t what it use to be, ain’t what it use to be…