The governor's proposal is only the beginning of the process. Currently, the House is working on the budget, and once it gets approval there, it will move to the Senate. The final step will be approval by the House and Senate Conference Committee. But even with the budget in the House, the Senate has already started its work, and through legislation, is looking at ways to improve the financial stress.
Prison spending is one of the fastest-growing segments of our budget. In 1970, Kentucky had 2,838 prisoners. Just last week, the state's inmate population was 22,442 and, by the end of the biennium, that number is expected to top 23,000. Kentucky's correction budget has swelled to nearly $398 million in general funds. The governor plans to appoint a criminal justice task force to undertake a comprehensive review of Kentucky's penal code, sentencing guidelines and related issues.
There is no doubt that the prison population has exploded in recent years, and the clear reason is drugs. More than 80 percent of all state prisoners are behind bars because of drugs and drug-related offenses. The Senate, for the third straight year, approved legislation to help felony drug offenders break the cycle of addiction.
Under our current system, a drug addict can be arrested on a non-violent felony charge, then get out on bail. Still hooked on drugs, he commits another felony to feed his addiction. Now he is looking at a much longer sentence as a repeat offender, and we have done nothing to help him get clean and become a productive member of society.
Senate Bill 72 would fundamentally change how we deal with drug offenders. Under the proposed legislation, we would provide drug addicts with treatment when it should do the most good - before they go to jail. All Class C and D felony offenders would be screened for addiction before their arraignment, and judges could make pre-trial drug treatment a condition of bail. If offenders stick with the outpatient program and stay clean, the offenders can stay out of prison and have their felony dismissed.
Of course, some addicts need more intensive treatment than others. For those who can't succeed in an outpatient program, Senate Bill 72 creates a 200-bed program in a prison-like setting. Volunteers would receive an even more rigorous treatment, along with skills training, to help provide them with a fresh start. While the outpatient treatment program would last two or three weeks, the inpatient program would last for three months minimum, and up to a year in some cases.
Long-term monitoring will be provided because follow-up is essential if either of these programs is to succeed. Research shows that the average addict who gets treatment has an 80 percent chance of relapsing, but if he can stay clean for 18 months, he has an 80 percent chance of never taking drugs again. The odds are in our favor if we can keep drug abusers on the straight and narrow path for those 18 months.
We also took steps this week to maintain an important federal anti-drug program in Eastern Kentucky. Operation UNITE, created in 2003 to fight drug abuse, has been a success. Federal grants have supplied most of its money, but Washington funding has dried up. Senate Bill 97 devotes $450,000 in state money to Operation UNITE. Meanwhile, we hope the federal government will extend its backing for this program.
We have just finished the first quarter of this session and there are still many issues to deal with in the coming weeks. I hope you will stay in touch by calling our Legislative Message Line at 1-800-372-7181 or e-mailing me at joey.pendleton@lrc.ky.gov.
- Senator Joey Pendleton represents Christian, Logan and Todd counties.
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