Special Commission on Correctional Funding Minutes
Monday, August 9, 2021, at 10 AM
(virtual meeting)
Commissioners Present:
- Chair Day
- Chair Brownsberger
- Commissioner Forman
- Commissioner Whelan
- Commissioner Joy
- Commissioner Coppinger
- Commissioner Dolan
- Commissioner Keefe
- Commissioner Widmer
- Commissioner Cook
Commissioners Absent:
- Commissioner Ashe – Jon D’Angelo attended as proxy
- Commissioner Fattman
- Commissioner Preston
- Commissioner Cowdell
- Commissioner Hodgson
- Commissioner Morton
- Commissioner Crowley
- Commissioner Spina
- Commissioner Horgan
Chair Brownsberger entertained a motion to approve minutes from the July 19, 2021, meeting. Commissioner Widmer moved and Chair Day seconded. Roll taken, with the following members approving said minutes:
- Chair Day
- Chair Brownsberger
- Commissioner Forman
- Commissioner Whelan
- Commissioner Joy
- Commissioner Coppinger
- Commissioner Dolan
- Commissioner Keefe
- Commissioner Widmer
All present members voted to approve the minutes.
Chair Brownsberger noted that the Commission’s report deadline of September 1, 2021, would likely not be met and advised that a goal of today’s meeting is to determine a new deadline.
Chair Brownsberger then reviewed the task matrix.
Carrie Hill provided an update from NIC on the status of the staffing analysis reports from their pilot program. All four draft reports are currently being reviewed by the pilot sites for security risks, with the goal to have the reports completed and submitted to the Chairs for posting on the commission website by no later than August 20th. NIC is preparing an executive summary of the process, which will also be completed by August 20th. Carrie Hill noted that this will conclude Phase 1 of this process. Phase 2, the completion of the full staffing analysis for each pilot site, will begin in September. Phase 3, the training of all remaining sheriff agencies to complete full staffing analyses, will begin in 2022.
Commissioner Forman provided an update on the staffing ratio and employee cost analysis. He and Commissioner Joy sent MARS data reports to the CFO for each agency last week, received a handful of responses, have spoken with several CFOs, and hope to receive the rest next week. Once received, they will finalize the reports and send back to CFOs for final approval. Chair Brownsberger set a deadline for all CFOs to respond by the end of August, and for the final review process to be completed by the end of September.
Carrie Hill noted that she has submitted FY17-20 inmate data reports, the Chapter 69 Matrix reports, and the organizational charts to the Chairs.
Commissioner Dolan noted that the Substance Use, Mental Health, and Discretionary Spending Subcommittee has collected a substantial amount of data and is in the process of consolidating, characterizing, and organizing it for further review and discussion. Once the subcommittee finalizes this data in a uniform matrix, it will be distributed to DOC and each sheriff agency for review and addition of community-based program information. Chair Brownsberger set a deadline until the end of September for this information to be collected. Members engaged in further discussion regarding the process and content of data collected by the Subcommittee, including the utility of recidivism data and using the terms “correctional” and “non-correctional” instead of “discretionary” and “nondiscretionary” when discussing programming.
Carrie Hill advised that she is in the process of obtaining updated capital asset reports that were submitted on July 31st and hoped to have them by the end of the week.
Chair Brownsberger asked about funding sources. Commissioner Forman said that this is covered in the other work that he and Commissioner Joy are undertaking.
Based on the Commission’s discussion of outstanding work and time needed to complete it, Chair Brownsberger proposed the following new timeline and report deadline:
- All data to be collected and finalized by September 30th
- Report to be drafted by Commission by October 31st
- Public hearings to be completed by November 30th
- Final Commission report, which includes public input, circulation, and discussion to be completed by January 31st
Senator Brownsberger entertained motion on the new timeline. Commissioner Cook moved and Commissioner Dolan seconded. Roll taken, with the following members, representing all members present, approving the amended timeline and report deadline:
- Chair Brownsberger
- Chair Day
- Commissioner Widmer
- Commissioner Forman
- Commissioner Whelan
- Commissioner Joy
- Commissioner Coppinger
- Commissioner Dolan
- Commissioner Keefe
- Commissioner Cook
All present members voted to approve the new timeline and report deadline.
Chair Brownsberger proposed the next two meeting dates to be September 10th at 1PM and October 6th at 10AM. Chair Brownsberger advised that the Commission will review and discuss a report outline at the next meeting.
Chair Brownsberger entertained a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Whelan moved, Chair Day seconded. The meeting ended.
The Commission will next meet on Friday, September 10, 2021, at 1PM.
You can access the full Commission meeting recording here.
You can access the updated task matrix here.