SPRINGFIELD — Officials are finally starting to offer up some
details about how they plan to tackle Gov. Pat Quinn’s decision to
cut nearly $42 million from the state prison budget.
Illinois Department of Corrections spokeswoman Sharyn Elman said
Thursday that the agency is hiring about 838 new prison guards this
fiscal year in order to reduce skyrocketing overtime costs at the
agency.
That’s more information than Elman offered just two days ago,
when she said the agency was still “formulating” its management
plan with the governor’s budget office.
A story Thursday by the Lee Enterprises Springfield bureau noted
that overtime reductions would not apply to employees who are in
labor unions, such as correctional officers.
Not so, said Elman. “We are reducing the overtime. We’re
definitely upping the staffing,” she said.
The new officers hired in coming fiscal year will replace guards
who have left for various reasons and weren’t replaced.
By hiring new guards at lower salaries, the agency hopes to
reduce overall overtime costs and produce a savings to the
cash-strapped state.
“The new correctional officers graduating from the academy are
replacing approximately 650 retiring officers who on average earn
significantly more than our base starting salary,” Elman noted
Thursday.
Cuts at the department are part of a $1.4 billion package of
spending reductions announced by Quinn last week.
Under an agreement with the American Federation of State, County
and Municipal Employees union, which represents a majority of
workers in the prison system, Quinn said he would not lay off
workers or close any facilities.
That left ballooning overtime costs as a primary target for
potential savings.
“The only way to reduce overtime costs is to hire adequate
staff,” said AFSCME Council 31 spokesman Anders Lindall.
In the fiscal year that ended June 30, Corrections estimates
overtime costs were about $55 million, down from $63 million the
previous year.
Read the original article from Stateline.org.