No boost for Alabama prisons in House-approved budget
By Tim Lockette, The Anniston Star, Ala. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Meanwhile, a committee in the
"We do have to balance the budget in a sustainable fashion," said Sen.
At
In an 80-20 vote Wednesday, House members approved a General Fund budget for 2015 that would give the
Prison problem
Most other state agencies -- including the prison system -- would remain funded at or near their 2014 levels. That was a problem for some critics of the budget, who said the time has come for
The state has more than 30,000 people in some form of correctional custody, with more than 25,000 packed into prisons built for roughly 13,000. The
Lawmakers in both parties have expressed concern that the federal government will take over the state's prisons. The
"I'm warning you right now," said Rep.
Rep.
"We're still talking," he said. "We're still expecting to get some mandates."
The budget also includes a 4 percent pay raise for non-school state employees, but only as a "conditional appropriation" to be paid out if state revenues exceed projections.
That's unlikely to happen. For years, the General Fund has come up short, and has been getting by on one-time money raided from various state funds.
"Even though we have a conditional, you probably won't get it," Rep.
Education budget advances
Pay raises were also an issue in the
"These men and women who are teachers, they are treated like they are nothing by this Legislature, and that is unconscionable," said Sen.
Pittman, the committee chair, said there wasn't enough economic growth to pay for a 2 percent raise in the education budget, which is funded by income and sales taxes.
"The economy has remained stagnant," Pittman said.
Also confounding the budget-makers was
The final payment on the loan is due in 2015, but it's hard to know how much the state will actually owe next year. Lawmakers agreed last year that if the state has an unexpected windfall in 2014, the extra money will go to pay back the loan -- but the 2014 fiscal year doesn't end until October. Pittman said the state could owe
The one-time bonus drew criticism from Democrats on the committee, who had proposed a 6 percent pay raise for teachers, and who noted that the governor, a Republican, had called for a bigger increase than Pittman proposed.
Mabry said in addition to cuts in take-home pay, teachers were digging into their own pockets buy supplies for underfunded classrooms.
"At the
Proponents of the one-time bonus said the state simply couldn't afford a pay raise.
"I'd like to make it 10 percent, but the fact i we have to live within our means," said Sen.
More teachers for middle grades
Other aspects of the K-12 school system fared slightly better. The state's schools would get
The state's
Pittman said the school could get the money back, under a "conditional appropriation" that would give ASU as much as
"There's going to have to be some accountability at the school," Pittman said.
The
Sen.
""It looks strange that
A cut to JSU
Other colleges, including
JSU president
Meehan told the Star earlier this year that the university had been hoping for a 5 percent increase, but was not likely to raise tuition unless the university saw a cut.
"We told students we would not raise tuition if we were level-funded," he said. "I'm not sure we can keep that."
"We need these
Capitol & statewide reporter
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