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Senate amends and passes bill revising state reimbursement to county correctional facilities
Summary
Senators adopted an amendment to House Bill 282 that sets the state reimbursement rate for housing certain state probationary and parole inmates and passed the measure; debate emphasized bed shortages, reimbursement vs. contracting rates, and long-term corrections funding trends.
The Senate considered and amended House Bill 282, which revises state payment and reimbursement to county correctional facilities, and passed the bill after adopting an agreed amendment.
Senator Knudson introduced Amendment 1, which reduces the percentage of the final state daily incarceration rate paid to a county as reimbursement for housing state probationary or parole inmates and specifies an FY2009 per-diem figure (intent language indicating $64.29 per day). The amendment reflected agreed language among joint majority leadership and was presented as necessary to align funding assumptions in the negotiated package.
Floor debate emphasized the state's relative shortage of beds and the tension between reimbursement rates and contract rates. Senator Greiner and others urged caution about continued reductions in reimbursement while contracting rates remain higher. Senator Wadhams pressed for reversing a trend that reduces mandatory reimbursement to counties while increasing contracting expenditures elsewhere.
Senator Knudson moved the amendment and the Senate adopted it. The body then voted on the bill as amended; the transcript records that House Bill 282 passed the Senate with 27 yes votes and 0 nays and was referred back to the House for further action.
The amendment and passage will change the calculation and flow of funds for counties that house state inmates and will be reflected in the FY2009 appropriation and subsequent corrections reimbursements.
