Appropriators press MDOC on staffing, 'ghost' FTEs and overtime amid proposed cuts

Representative Slaw presented the Department of Corrections budget and said the house proposal reduces authorized FTEs (455 positions described in the presentation as "ghost employees") and includes about $79.6M in projected savings from administrative and FTE changes, along with deferred maintenance items (~$39.4M) and a $4.2M allowance for increased prisoner health-care costs.

Members repeatedly pressed Slaw and House Fiscal Agency staff on how the budget saves money while overtime remains at historically high levels. House Fiscal Agency staff reported that the state paid about $126,900,000 in overtime costs last year and that the savings line used a baseline assumption of roughly $150,000 per FTE when estimating the fiscal effect of removing unfilled authorizations. Rep. Slaw said proposed boilerplate would direct the department to revisit strip-search protocols and adopt uniform contraband-prevention policies across facilities.

Several representatives expressed concern that reductions to authorized but unfilled FTEs could reduce budget authorizations that have been used to pay mandatory overtime, and asked whether the budget preserves a line to respond to surge overtime. Staff said the reductions were placed in a budgetary savings line (not as a facility-specific cut) and that the department retains flexibility under boilerplate to target where savings are achieved; they also reiterated the inclusion of measures intended to address overtime through shift changes and other operational improvements.

Ending: Discussion concluded with an agreement to continue dialog between appropriators and the executive branch; no formal amendment restored the FTE authorizations during the committee session.