By Tom Mooney
The Providence Journal
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The astronomical cost of treating prison inmates with hepatitis C and a hike in overtime cost for correctional officers after several years of declines drew the most questions Thursday from a panel of House lawmakers.
But overall, the Corrections Department budget hearing before the public safety subcommittee of the House Finance Committee was marked by brevity and congeniality.
Even Richard Ferruccio, who in past stints as president of the Brotherhood of Correctional Officers rarely suffered a shortage of disagreements with Director A.T. Wall, told lawmakers at the start of his testimony: “We are in agreement with most of what the director has submitted” for budget expenditures in the next fiscal year.
Governor Raimondo has requested a Correction’s Department budget of $200 million for fiscal year 2016, which begins July 1. The request represents an increase of about $12 million over the enacted budget for this fiscal year.
One reason for the increase, said Wall, was the increased cost for overtime, prompted in large part by a federal lawsuit that has had the effect of freezing additional hires.
In November 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice sued the Corrections Department claiming its exam for officer candidates was unfair to black and Hispanic men. The department has appealed the ruling but in the meantime the hiring freeze means the department is down about 27 correctional officers from its current cap of 854, said Brenda Brodeur, the department’s assistant director of finance.
The shortage of correctional officers has meant about 40,000 additional hours of overtime this current year, she said, translating to about $1.9 million more in overtime spending. By the time the year ends June 30, the department will have spent about $20 million in overtime, she said.
Overtime costs had been decreasing every year since 2010 when the department spent $24.2 million.
Wall said the department has also spent so far this year $925,000 treating just eight inmates who suffer from hepatitis C with new wonder drugs that can actually cure the disease.
But the treatment, which he said the department is mandated by federal law to use, can cost $1,400 a day, per inmate, for 12 to 14 weeks.
Wall said he expected to have to treat the same number of inmates next fiscal year.
Rep. Deborah Ruggiero, D-Jamestown, asked Wall whether he had appealed to Congress and pharmaceutical companies about less-costly generic drugs since “this is a nationwide concern.”
Wall said directors around the country are discussing forming a consortium to leverage their drug purchases. But negotiations were inherently difficult, he said, since each state funds its own corrections department, making consensus difficult.