Showing posts with label budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label budget. Show all posts
Thursday, August 12, 2021

Bring on Austin's police staffing debate: Proposal to hire 400-800 new cops would require budget tradeoffs the public won't support

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In Austin, the Republican-led group that ran a successful ballot initiative criminalizing homelessness has put another one on the ballot for...
Friday, May 21, 2021

On the Myth of Prison Closures Generating Cost Savings: How TDCJ can ↓ prisoners by 20% and still see costs rise nine figures per biennium

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From the earliest days your correspondent first showed up at the Texas Legislature, I've been grumpy about how they score "fiscal ...
13 comments:
Monday, May 17, 2021

Might "anti-defund" legislation demilitarize and redefine 21st century policing? On the predictable if unintended consequences of micromanaging city budget decisions

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Grits has been thinking about "defund the police" legislation ( HB 1900 ) at the Texas Legislature, which seeks to punish Austin...
6 comments:
Friday, May 07, 2021

Five Observations and a Prediction: Why police budget hikes could become a thing of the past in Texas if HB 1900 becomes law

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In no particular order, here are five observations and a prediction about a week filled with losses for the Texas criminal-justice reform mo...
Tuesday, March 02, 2021

Boost Texas prisoner food budgets 39 cents per prisoner/day

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If your annual food budget was $800 per person and that money had to last all year, how would you spend it? I'll give you a moment: Try ...
21 comments:
Tuesday, February 23, 2021

#Txlege should use savings from closed prison units to fund needed treatment services

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The Texas Legislative Budge Board has "Recommended funding maintains correctional security operations, with a decrease totaling $148 m...
5 comments:
Sunday, November 08, 2020

TDCJ savings from prisoner reductions significant, but probably not $1 million per day

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Recent incarceration reductions  are saving the Texas Department of Criminal Justice $1 million per day, according to the Texas Criminal Jus...
3 comments:

"Defund the police" is the new "Obamacare": The Texas #cjreform landscape post-election

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Now that the most divisive presidential election in 50 years is over and, win, lose or (largely) draw, everybody can take a deep breath, it...
10 comments:
Monday, October 26, 2020

A chance to expand police oversight: Why Texas should begin charging cops and jailers licensure fees

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Readers may recall Grits recommended over the summer that the agency licensing Texas peace officers, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcemen...
15 comments:
Monday, September 14, 2020

Dallas chief resigns; Manley remains: WTF?

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Grits should have mentioned Dallas police  Chief Renee Hall's resignation in yesterday's post about the Dallas budget, but it seem...
2 comments:
Sunday, September 13, 2020

In Dallas, #DefundThePolice becomes epithet to describe any cut, even amidst COVID revenue shortfalls

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Debates over "defunding the police" became even sillier this week with Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson trotting out the phrase to oppose...
3 comments:
Sunday, August 30, 2020

Manley: "Oh, no! I have the same number of officers I did yesterday! Must make radical cuts to popular units to maintain patrol at current levels"

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Austin Police Chief Brian Manley's disingenuous response to modest budget cuts (and major disempowering of him ) demonstrates why, long...
4 comments:
Thursday, February 21, 2019

Legislation filed to abolish driver surcharges

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Yesterday, Texas Senate State Affairs Committee Chairwoman Joan Huffman and House Appropriations Committee Chairman John Zerwas filed compan...
1 comment:
Friday, February 01, 2019

Considering long DPS license-center lines and ballooning prison-healthcare costs at House Appropriations

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The Texas House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday will consider two items this blog has covered quite a bit heading into session: Long li...
Monday, January 28, 2019

Senate Finance debate ignores policy solutions to excessive DPS license-center lines

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The Texas Senate Finance Committee this morning had a quite-animated discussion over long lines at DPS driver license offices. But nobody ye...
15 comments:

Guard understaffing just one reason the #txlege must reduce inmate populations and close more state prisons

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Budget hawks at the Texas Legislature should be taking a close look at the state prison system this year. Without significant policy changes...
4 comments:
Sunday, January 27, 2019

County Judge blames #txlege for indigent defense costs, but local officials' choices are to blame

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Having written yesterday about Texas counties portraying their core, criminal-justice responsibilities as "unfunded mandates," th...
2 comments:
Friday, January 18, 2019

#txlege budget writers in denial on prisoner health care

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In its Legislative Appropriations Request , the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said it needs an additional $247 million in order to co...
8 comments:
Friday, January 11, 2019

Fixing longstanding criminal-justice problems in a black-ink budget year

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Comptroller Glenn Hegar gave the Texas Legislature some good news with a black-ink budget projection for the coming biennium, suggesting t...
4 comments: