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Archive for the ‘Contract, Contracts’ Category

State inmate housing a financial boon to local sheriffs

Posted in Budget, Contract, Contracts, Prison, Taxes, Transparency on December 13, 2010| 7 Comments »

The United States has the highest per capita rate of incarceration in the world. Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in America. Ergo, Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in the world, according to a report by the U.S. Justice Department.

On the other hand, more than 17,000 of Louisiana’s 40,000 prison inmates are being held in parish prisons and the local sheriffs who receive $24.39 per prisoner per day love the arrangement. The total cost of local housing of adult offenders is a staggering $158.4 million with the state’s adult release program costing an additional $20.2 million, according to budget figures contained in HB-1 of this year’s legislative session.

The $158.4 million includes $152.6 million for actual housing, $3.7 million for inmate medical payments, $1.6 million for law enforcement district debt retirement in Morehouse and Natchitoches parishes, and $600,000 for additional payments of $3 per day per inmate for the Intensive Supervision Program.

The 17,000 state prisoners housed in parish jails in Louisiana is more than double the next two highest number—the 7,900 state prisoners held in county jails in Tennessee and 7,300 Kentucky prisoners held in county facilities.

Local sheriffs relish the opportunity to house state prison inmates because it infuses needed cash into the local coffers. One state official said the actual cost to sheriffs to house the state prisoners is only a fraction of the $24.39 daily income per prisoner. “It’s a big bonus for the sheriffs,” he said.

Nineteen parishes and four municipalities have contracts with the state to house state prisoners while others are paid under interagency agreements. Regardless, the pay to the local law enforcement agencies is the same and some sheriffs also operate work release facilities and pre-release/re-entry programs.

Work release reimbursement rates differ, depending on certain factors and rates range from $12.25 to $16.39 per prisoner per day and prisoners pay part of their salaries to the sheriffs to further offset the cost of the program.

Last July, a panel of judges, attorneys, and law enforcement officials convened to study why Louisiana sends more people to prison than any other state. They might have asked state legislators and saved themselves the trouble of a protracted study.

Each legislative session, dozens of bills are introduced by Louisiana lawmakers to either create new criminal statutes or to increase penalties for existing laws. Only rarely does a bill attempt to reduce penalties for crimes. In the 2010 regular session alone, for example, 68 of 93 bills addressing criminal procedure and crime, called for jail time for new crimes or longer sentences for existing laws. Those included crimes ranging from “unlawfully wearing clothing which exposes undergarments or certain body parts” to cyberbullying, and terrorist acts.

“Legislators wonder why the budget for the Department of Corrections is so large,” said one state employee who is familiar with the department. “As long as they keep trying to criminalize everything they find personally offensive in the name of law and order for the benefit of the folks back home, the budget is going to keep growing.”

Legislators last week criticized Gov. Bobby Jindal’s tentative proposal to sell prison facilities in Winn and Allen parishes to raise revenue to help cut a projected $1.6 billion budget shortfall next year.

The state currently pays Corrections Corp. of America of Nashville and GEO Group of Boca Raton, Florida, $18 million per year each to manage the Winn and Allen facilities, respectively. Department of Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc said selling the facilities could net the state about $64 million.

Some members of the Senate Finance Committee said they feared that new prison owners would include the mortgage costs in what they would charge the state to feed, clothe, and tend to the prisoners. Sen. John Alario (R-Westwego) said new owners would increase the operating costs charged the state in order to absorb the cost of purchasing the prisons, thereby resulting in the state’s paying for the prisons twice.

Current housing contracts with local parishes and municipalities and the contract amounts include:

• LaSalle Parish ($1,246,329);
• Morehouse Parish ($1,099,905.60)
• St. Charles Parish ($2,136,564);
• St. Mary Parish ($1,789,470);
• East Feliciana Parish ($335,343.75);
• Claiborne Parish ($1,424,376);
• Town of Jonesboro (Jackson Parish) ($1,780,470);
• Town of Richwood (Ouachita Parish) ($1,424,376);
• Town of Wisner (Franklin Parish) ($1,780,470);
• Village of Epps (West Carroll Parish) ($1,281938.40);
• West Feliciana Parish ($268,275);
• Bossier Parish ($1,958,517);
• Catahoula Parish ($1,246,329);
• Concordia Parish (two contracts: $1,780,470 and $500,000);
• Iberia Parish ($478,423.75);
• Madison Parish (two contracts: $1,139,500.80 and $4,780,561.95);
• Natchitoches Parish ($1,145,735);
• Rapides Parish (three contracts: $1,246,329; $603,618.75, and $491,837.50);
• Sabine Parish ($1,068,282);
• St. Tammany Parish ($389,637.50);
• Vernon Parish ($1,068,282);
• Webster Parish ($1,228,524.30);
• West Baton Rouge Parish ($827,181.25)
Parish contracts for work release, pre-release services, and offender re-entry services and contract amounts include:
• Lafourche Parish (inmate work release: $968,527.50);
• Caddo Parish (pre-release services: $550,000);
• Madison Parish (female offender re-entry: $431,550)
• Orleans Parish (re-entry services: $366,667).

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Alabama security firm threatens retaliation against Louisiana employees

Posted in Contract, Contracts, Governor's Office, Prison, Transparency on December 10, 2010| 2 Comments »

An Alabama firm that provides security for about 20 state offices buildings in Baton Rouge and other Louisiana cities has threatened retaliation against employees who complained of not receiving paychecks from the company or who received checks that bounced.

A December 6 one-page memorandum from JAT Bureau of Protective Services of Montgomery, Alabama, began by instructing employees on when to submit their timesheets and then noted that the firm’s current pay calendar was incorrect. “The next pay date will be December 23, 2010. A new pay calendar will be distributed to each employee within the next few weeks,” it said.

The memo then said the Department of Public Safety (DPS) “has had several complaints by building tenants (employees of state agencies, ostensibly) and DPS officers of JAT employees complaining about issues they have with the company.”

The “issues” weren’t identified but the reference was apparently to complaints about late payroll checks and payroll checks that bounced. One employee showed Capitol News Service his check of November 17 that was returned by his bank because of insufficient funds.

“This behavior WILL NOT BE TOLERATED,” the memorandum said in all capital, bold letters. “If any employee has a complaint, it can be expressed to (supervisors). If the complaint cannot be handled by the supervisor, he or she will pass (it) on to the appropriate manager to be handled. DPS does not want employees calling their officers or office with complaints. Complaints will be handled by JAT management.”

The final admonition said, again in bold lettering: “Any employees found to be in violation of this policy will be given a written warning. Further violation(s) will result in termination.”

Another memorandum to JAT employees, dated the following day from JAT Chairman Arthur Coleman, III, said the company is current with employee salary payments but it appeared to conflict with the Dec. 6 memo which said the next pay date will be Dec. 23. “All employees will receive a check on Friday, January 7, 2011,” the Dec. 7 letter said, again in all-bold letters. “The next pay date will be February 7, 2001.” Coleman said the 30-day notice of changes in pay dates is in compliance with Louisiana law

JAT, of Montgomery, Alabama, was awarded the contract, effective Oct. 1, on the basis of its low bid of $1,061,866.11 at bid openings last August. The contract runs through June 30, 2011 and stipulates that unarmed guards receive a minimum of $8.50 per hour with armed guards receiving one dollar more per hour. Supervisors are to receive at least $12 per hour.

The firm employs 74 guards in 15 Baton Rouge state office buildings, plus employees in other state buildings scattered across the state, from New Orleans to Shreveport.

Attempts by Capitol News Service to contact Coleman were unsuccessful.

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Louisiana’s tobacco lawsuit settlement laden with irony

Posted in Attorney General, Contract, Contracts, Health Care, Prison, Revenue, Transparency on December 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

An online dictionary defines the essential feature of irony as “the indirect presentation of a contradiction between an action or expression and the context in which it occurs.”

A good example of irony would be the State of Louisiana’s legal position in joining with 45 other states several years ago in suing the big tobacco companies. Louisiana, then-Attorney General Richard Ieyoub claimed, was spending inordinate amounts of state revenue treating tobacco-related illnesses among indigent citizens at the state’s charity hospitals.

Joining in the lawsuit was a logical and justified means of recovering some of the state’s costs of treating heart and lung disease, diabetes, cancer, tooth and gum disease, and various other ailments afflicting the state’s poor smokers. It even made sense when state buildings established designating smoking rooms in the early 1990s and then later abolished smoking altogether, forcing those unwilling to kick the habit to trudge outside in heat, cold, and rain to get their nicotine fix.

The 46 states and several U.S. territories eventually reached a settlement of about $206 billion with Louisiana slated to receive $4.6 billion as its share of the settlement.

Louisiana received its first check of $104 million in December of 1999. Last year the state’s share was $175.5 million and the 2010 payment of an as yet undetermined amount is due later this month.

That would explain the justification. Now for the irony.

On June 16 of this year, the Louisiana Department of Corrections (DOC) awarded contracts to three separate vendors for the purchase of more than $6.1 million in tobacco products for re-sale to prison inmates across the state.

And that was only for a six-month supply.

Of the three vendors who were awarded contracts, two are from Texas. Rudy Love Distributing Co. of Huntsville, Texas, had a low bid of $1,002,450 and Price & Co. of Beaumont, Texas, submitted a low bid of $84,631.75. Lyons Specialty Co. of Port Allen tied with an out-of-state firm with its bid of $5,025,220, but was awarded the contract because it is a Louisiana firm, according to DOC spokesperson Pam LaBorde.

The three firms were low bidders on 16 separate items on which bids were opened on June 14, two days before the contracts were awarded, she said.

LaBorde said that DOC and Prison Enterprises (PE) recoups the full amount of the tobacco items purchased off the bids by selling the products to prisoners at a markup, “plus the applicable sales taxes by parish and city or town where the correctional center is located.” She added that prices will vary somewhat because of local taxes.

“When placed out for bid, the amounts reflected in the bid are estimates of usage for the six-month contract period,” LaBorde said. “The amount purchased fluctuates based on the demand.” She said that items are delivered on an as-needed basis and facilities are not required to purchase the full amount as estimated in the contract.

“These proceeds are used to offset the cost of the items, the bidding of the items, the storage, warehousing, other overhead, and delivery to each facility as well as to recoup the necessary salary funds of the correctional officers who provide the canteen service. These canteen services are provided to the offender population as self-generated program(s),” she added.

So much for recovering the costs of purchasing tobacco products for the prisoners. Every contingency, it seems, is covered.

Except….except, oh yes, medical care for the state’s indigent population.

And who in Louisiana is more indigent than prison inmates?

No one. And bear in mind that Louisiana has the largest prison population in the U.S.

And where are prison inmates treated for their smoking-related illnesses?

At the state’s charity hospitals, that’s where.

And who pays for their treatment?

Since the cost of medical treatment is not factored into the equation, i.e. the price prisoners pay for tobacco products, that would be you and me, the Louisiana taxpayers.

Irony.

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State contractor bounces employee paychecks

Posted in Contract, Contracts, Governor's Office, Prison, Transparency on December 5, 2010| Leave a Comment »

An Alabama firm that was awarded a million dollar contract in September to provide security for at least 15 state office buildings in Baton Rouge is late paying most of the 74 guards on its Baton Rouge payroll and has bounced paychecks for several others only weeks before Christmas.

JAT Bureau of Services and Management of Montgomery, Alabama, sent memorandums to employees last Thursday informing them that their paychecks, already late in coming, will be distributed on Tuesday of this week.

JAT, which employs 200 persons in all and which had 2009 revenues of $2 million, had the low bid of $1,061,866.11 during bid openings on Aug. 4 and was awarded the contract to run from September 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011, according to documents provided by the Division of Administration.

The contract stipulates that unarmed guards receive a minimum of $8.50 per hour and armed guards $9.50. Supervisors are to receive at least $12 per hour under terms of the contract.

One guard showed a copy of his paycheck dated November 17, which was returned because of insufficient funds. Guards have continued working despite either not receiving paychecks for several weeks or after receiving paychecks that were not honored by banks.

One unconfirmed report said the company’s contract also includes as many as five other state office buildings in other cities and that employees in those locations also have not been paid.

Attempts were made to contact JAT Chairman Arthur Coleman, but an employee who answered the phone said he was not available. She gave a cell phone number for him but he did not answer when called.

The request for proposals (RFP) issued a month before the bid opening apparently did not require that bidders post either a bid bond or performance bond. The RFP did stipulate, however, that the successful bidder carry liability insurance and that the state had the right to cancel the contract for unsatisfactory performance with 15 days written notice.

State buildings where JAT has a contract to provide security include the Claiborne Building which houses the Division of Administration that awarded the firm its contract, the Office of State Police, the State Library Building, the Baton Rouge State Office Building, the Poydras Building, the First Circuit Court of Appeal Building, the State Data Processing Building, the Galvez Building, the LaSalle Building, the LaSalle Building garage, the Department of Environmental Quality Laboratory building, the Iberville Building, the Bienville Building, the Division of Administrative Law building, and the Wooddale State Office Building.

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My platform for the 2011 governor’s election

Posted in Campaign Contributions, Contract, Contracts, Ethics, Golf Courses, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Layoffs, Legislature, Legislators, Lobbyist, Taxes on November 11, 2010| 8 Comments »

Okay, after much deliberation, soul-searching, and with encouragement from family and friends (and co-workers who just want me go somewhere, anywhere else), it is with tongue planted firmly in cheek that I announce my candidacy for governor of the gret stet of looziana.

I am offering my services with a fairly simple no-frills platform. Some of the individual planks in my platform are certain to offend some very influential people—and that’s a good thing. So, without fanfare, frills or equivocation, and with the promise of no compromise, here is that platform:

No out-of-state campaigning for any Democrat or Republican candidate. My first responsibility will be to the citizens of Louisiana, not some two-faced, lying parasite who has never held a real job. Besides, I’m an independent. Plus, I don’t trust any politician. And no out-of-state travel for book signings, either;

Merge several universities and junior colleges throughout the state and convert some four-year schools to junior college status. Failing that, at least merge some of the programs—such as the law schools at Southern University and LSU in Baton Rouge. With the help of a reluctant legislature, this will cut duplication in athletic scholarships, salaries of coaches and university administrators, and in replicated programs;

Turn over all operations of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security (otherwise known as the Governor’s Patronage Department) to the State Police where it was originally and should be again. If you recall, the administration pushed through a constitutional amendment in October that changed the Office of Homeland Security from classified (civil service) to non-classified (appointive) so that Homeland Security employees may receive any size pay raise the administration deems appropriate. Civil service employees, meanwhile, have their merit raises frozen indefinitely;

Eliminate the lieutenant governor’s office and assign the duties of that office to the secretary of state. Hey, it worked with the elections commission;

Have the Office of Contractual Review do its job by reviewing ALL contracts, including consulting contracts, to determine need;

Use the governor’s line-item veto to cut wasteful spending and to balance the state budget instead of laying off employees who have families to support, college tuition and home mortgages to pay, and who need health insurance;

In lieu of layoffs, offer state employees the option of accepting a pay cut of 7.5 to 10% for those making $50,000 to $100,000; 15% for those making up to $200,000; 20% for salaries of $200,000 to $300,000, and 25% for anyone making more than $300,000. Most employees would opt for a pay cut if it meant saving their jobs but sadly, the present administration has never even considered this option. Legislators would also be required to take a 25% cut. In fact, cut cabinet level salaries altogether;

Sell off all state golf courses. No additional explanation necessary;

Revisit the sacred Homestead Exemption (see? It’s even capitalized.);

Increase tobacco and alcohol taxes to at least the national average. If people are going to kill themselves with their indulgences, at least make ‘em pay for the privilege and make ‘em pay for the use of our charity hospital system when they develop catastrophic illnesses related to their vices;

Pass a constitutional amendment that future budget cuts, when necessary, won’t affect education or health care (someone needs to do this.);

Block computer games and internet access to legislators on Senate and House floors during legislative sessions;

Require all lobbyists to register with the Secretary of State (they already register with the House Speaker, but that’s too close to the center of power) and assess a hefty registration fee for all lobbyists except for non-profits;

Discontinue publishing legislative acts and other legal news in the Baton Rouge newspaper. This practice is cost prohibitive now that we have the free internet;

Enact a tough ethics code with real teeth. Bar any gifts to legislators, including meals, drinks, parties, etc. Any lobbyist violating said act shall be subject to severe fines and shall be barred from all future legislative sessions. Any legislator violating said act shall be subject to heavy fines and forfeiture of legislative pay for duration of his/her term of office.

Consolidate investigative agencies. Louisiana currently has five investigative agencies: the attorney general’s office, the ethics commission, the inspector general, the state police investigation program and the legislative auditor. Total budget for the five agencies: $55 million. Because the present administration has already gutted, stripped, and otherwise neutered the ethics commission. I suggest the state police absorb the auditor’s office, the inspector general, and ethics commission and that any investigations now pending with the latter three agencies be turned over to the state police. You may have noticed that the attorney general was left out of the loop. That’s because the AG is elected and as such, is a politician and not to be trusted with any investigation of state officials.

There you have it: my complete platform. Oh, wait. There is one more: No campaign contributions shall be accepted from any person, organization, foundation, PAC, or lobbyist.

I guess I should go ahead and write my concession speech now.

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