State prison employees who objected to questionable purchases of everything from cars to guitars for inmate drug treatment programs were told to stay quiet and allow the money to be spent, five whistle-blowers testified Monday.

At a state Senate hearing that highlighted problems with drug rehabilitation in prisons, the employees said corrections administrators encouraged excess spending and worked to suppress information that called into question the effectiveness of treatment programs.

It was a dramatic day of testimony in which the head of one drug treatment group under fire for misusing money declared, right before he was to speak, that he was having a heart attack. He was ushered out of the hearing room in a wheelchair. The employees, subpoenaed to testify and sometimes speaking about their bosses or former bosses as they sat next to them, described a state Department of Corrections that had little regard for taxpayers.

Olson testified that she objected to one contractor running a drug program who billed the state $5,000 for office supplies but refused to provide receipts detailing what the money actually bought. She also said she was directed to discredit a UCLA report suggesting that a program at a state prison in Corcoran (Kings County) was ineffective and hired counselors who were former convenience store clerks and fast food restaurant employees with no drug treatment experience.

Another employee, Larry Cupler, an auditor in the department, said one program designed to treat 40 inmates was paid its full amount even though it only treated about a dozen, and administrators approved $1.9 million in expenses even though a contractor provided no receipts to prove what it spent the money on.

Roderick Hickman, who has been Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's prisons chief, resigned from his job Sunday and met with Cabinet Secretary Fred Aguiar on Monday, but it was unclear when his last day will be. California's beleaguered prison system has all kinds of legal problems stemming from allegations of poor inmate medical care, harsh treatment of juvenile prisoners and unfair parole practices. On Monday, state Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, accused the system of abusing taxpayers.