Democrats are urging Republicans in the Iowa legislature who control the budgeting process to boost spending for the state’s prisons. Over the past two years, spending for the Iowa Department of Corrections has been reduced by about 16 million dollars.
Senator Rob Hogg, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids says the number of inmates who commit another crime three years after they’ve been released from prison has jumped to 37 percent.
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Senator Julian Garrett of Indianola is the Republican co-chair of the panel that drafted next year’s plan for prison spending.
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Shortly after Garrett’s remarks, the spending plan for corrections passed on a party-line vote — Republicans voting yes and Democrats in the Senate voting no.