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| Budget-slashing Lawmakers Propose Leaner Prison Menu |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 05/19/2003 |
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Inmates in Texas prisons would consume fewer calories each day, gulp powdered milk, and maybe even chow down on burgers made from soy instead of beef under budget cuts served up Thursday by the Senate-House conference committee working out the state's next two-year spending plan. The committee grappling with a $9.9 billion shortfall approved a compromise budget proposal for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. It included the Senate recommendation to spend $812.1 million in 2004-05 on various services including utilities, food, maintenance and agriculture. That reflects millions of dollars in cuts from current spending levels, including chopping $6.3 million from the food bill. 'We're going to have to be real creative in order to put three meals a day on the table that are nutritious,' said Gary Johnson, executive director of the TDCJ. Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, said the changes such as moving from liquid to powdered milk are acceptable ways to save money in tough times so lawmakers can spend more on core needs such as treatment for drug offenders. Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, said she wanted to work with Johnson to find more ways to trim the food bill, including possibly using soy-based products instead of beef, a move she said would be cheaper and healthier. Johnson said he was open to ideas but that officials take extra care when making those kinds of decisions. In 2001, James A. 'Andy' Collins and Canadian businessman Yank Barry were convicted for participating in a 1995 kickback scheme to distribute a soy-based meat substitute product, VitaPro, to state inmates while Collins was Texas prisons chief. State officials said that frequent servings 'demoralized the staff and inmates and led to adverse health effects, including rampant flatulence.' Stockpiles eventually were used to feed hogs at prison system farms. The conference committee proposal adopted Thursday also would cut $7 million from the system's maintenance budget, $6.5 million from agriculture operations and $4.5 million from utilities. TDCJ spent $75 million on utilities in the current budget cycle. Whitmire said legislators working on the budget were forced to make 'gut-wrenching decisions' to save money without putting public safety at risk. He cited cutting some funding for drug and AIDS treatment in state prisons as examples. The chief of the nation's second-largest prisons system said he'll do the best he can with more than $300 million in total cuts, including the reductions to food and utilities. |
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