JHA Testimony in Support of the SFY 2022 Proposed Budget for IDOC

JHA Testimony in support of the SFY 2022 Proposed Budget for the Illinois Department Corrections to the House Appropriations—Public Safety Committee of the 102nd Illinois General Assembly, April 8, 2021.

JHA puts forth the following recommendations regarding the proposed budget for IDOC, SFY 2022:

1. Conduct an independent assessment of the Illinois Department of Corrections’ (IDOC) operations and infrastructure to gauge if the Department can fulfill the legal and moral mandate to maintain safe, humane, and rehabilitative prisons, and determine how the Department can better meet its mandate; act on this assessment by renovating, repurposing, consolidating, constructing and closing facilities as necessary.

2. Do not reduce IDOC’s budget at this time. IDOC has not been adequately resourced or properly managed by the State for decades; reducing the Department’s budget will further erode programming and treatment for people in prison and worsen already poor living conditions.

3. Further reduce Illinois’ prison population by revising sentencing policies that keep people in prison far longer than is required to advance public safety.

4. Reform the cumbersome procurement process and relieve the undue administrative burdens IDOC is subjected to so the Department may efficiently utilize scarce resources.