Stifling heat has killed inmates and exacerbated employee turnover in Texas prisons. But funding for air conditioning was whittled down in the draft budget released Thursday.
in wrongful death and civil rights lawsuits. More than two-thirds of Texas’ 100 prisons don’t have air conditioning in most living areas, forcing thousands of prison officers and tens of thousands of prisoners to work and live in sweltering conditions.— a hefty sum, though a relative drop in the bucket in the state budget — to cover two phases of a four-phase plan to install air conditioning in all Texas prisons by 2031. But the Senate dashed those hopes, offering no money for the purpose.
The House’s proposal would have spent $225.9 million to cool 16 facilities by 2025, focusing on transfer facilities, which hold newly sentenced prisoners, and those with large special needs populations, according to a TDCJ draft plan. Phase 2 would have used $319.3 million to air condition another 30 facilities by 2027, focusing on larger prisons built in the 1980s and 1990s.
In Thursday’s final budget proposal, lawmakers had added the additional $85.7 million “deferred maintenance” funding in the miscellaneous budget section. Though lawmakers didn’t explicitly say the money was for air conditioning, the money falls under the same budget category from which TDCJ pulls funds to install air conditioning.
Even if the entirety of the $85.7 million is used for air conditioning, it’s unclear exactly how many beds or units it would cool. TDCJ and the Legislative Budget Board have estimated that cooling prisons would cost between $620,000 to $48 million per facility, depending on the prison.TDCJ agreeing to install air conditioning
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Despite budget surplus, Texas Legislature makes little money available for prison air conditioningThe Texas Legislature allotted no money specifically for prison air conditioning in its budget proposal, despite a $32.7 billion budget surplus. Dangerously hot prisons have killed inmates and exacerbated employee turnover.
Read more »
Texas Legislature is risking postpartum careTexas lawmakers are close to the finish line with a bill that will have a major impact on low-income Texas mothers. It’s bipartisan legislation that will...
Read more »
Texas Legislature approves bill to let unlicensed chaplains counsel kids in public schoolsTexas Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to sign the proposal into law, although it's likely to face court challenges. Texas txlege TexasSchools SeparationOfChurchAndState GregAbbott
Read more »
Medical pot bills die in Texas legislature as local dispensary calls for renewed actionCansortium Inc. a medical cannabis company that operates in Texas, said Friday it’s disappointed in the failure this week of two bills in the state...
Read more »
Anti-Queer Laws Just Keep Coming at the Texas LegislatureIf it weren't already clear from the Texas Republican party platform, recent bills send a loud message that the GOP wants queerness hidden, eradicated, and even criminalized.
Read more »
On the hot seat: Texas lawmakers recommend impeaching Texas Attorney General Ken PaxtonIn an unanimous decision, a Republican-led investigative committee that spent months quietly looking into Paxton recommended impeaching the state’s top lawyer.
Read more »