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Budget Summary FY2017

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Outside Section 174
Data Current as of:  8/9/2016




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Sheriffs' Working Group

SECTION 174.   (a) There shall be a working group to examine and propose methods to achieve annual cost savings within each sheriff's office. The working group shall consist of the following persons or their designees: the president of the Massachusetts Sheriffs Association, Inc. who shall serve as chair; the secretary of administration and finance; the secretary of health and human services; the state auditor; and each of the 14 sheriffs. Each sheriff's office shall provide information and data as requested by the working group.

(b) The working group shall examine methods and make recommendations to reduce operating expenditures including, but not limited to: (i) consolidating inmate medical and other vendor services; (ii) establishing best practices for high quality and cost effective inmate medical services, including federal revenue opportunities for Medicaid reimbursement; (iii) developing innovative personnel initiatives including, but not limited to, reducing overtime costs and the ratio of supervisors to personnel; (iv) formulating equitable ratios of inmates per employee and cost-per-inmate strategies among the sheriffs' offices; (v) establishing best practices for spending parity between sheriffs' offices with similar inmate populations; and (vi) implementing more uniform programs and services in each house of correction. The working group shall also examine impediments, costs and timelines for implementing the recommendations. The working group shall utilize the findings of the funding formula developed pursuant to section 172 of chapter 46 of the acts of 2015 in making recommendations under this section.

(c) The working group shall submit a report outlining its findings and recommendations to the house and senate committees on ways and means not later than December 1, 2016. In addition to the findings and recommendations required under subsection (b), the report shall include, but not be limited to: (i) the average cost per inmate in each office over the previous 12 months; (ii) the average number of inmates per employee in each office over the previous 12 months; (iii) a funding baseline for more equitable cost-per-inmate and inmates-per employee ratios; and (iv) potential annual cost savings identified by the working group for fiscal year 2018.
 

Veto Explanation:
I am vetoing this section because much of the work proposed for this report has already been performed under a legislative mandate which I approved in section 172 of the fiscal year 2016 General Appropriations Act. That report is attached.