Free Money, Come Get It! Why not tax out of state prison inmates?

Though I've written in the past that I'd prefer constructing a wall on the Red River instead of the Rio Grande, here's an idea (via Corrections Sentencing) that Texas ought to import from the Sooner State: A "surcharge on every out-of-state inmate residing in OK prisons, public or private. $2 a head per day." Reports Tulsa World ("Fee is pushed for certain private prison inmates," Jan. 9):

"Out-of-state inmates drain taxpayer dollars that should go to other purposes," Rep. Brian Renegar, D-McAlester, said. When such an inmate escapes from a private prison, Oklahoma foots the bill for capturing the convict, he said.

Texas houses lot more out of state inmates, even, than Oklahoma, and to be frank, the states housing prisoners here, in general, have nowhere else to go. As Michael says, "A million here, a million there, pretty soon you’re talking about real money. The ramifications are (understatement alert) numerous."

The ramifications become even greater if you include massive immigrant detention centers in the mix, since the vast majority of immigrant detainees are housed in private prisons or city and county jails. I don't know if the state could require such a surcharge from the feds, but it could for private vendors.

On its face, there's little political downside to accessing this funding source: No one affected votes in Texas!