November 13, 2014
While state spending on corrections has grown sharply since NASBO first published the State Expenditure Report in 1987, much of the growth was seen in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. For example, between fiscal 1994 and fiscal 2003, total state spending on corrections (general funds, other state funds, bonds, and federal funds combined) grew 73.8 percent, while general fund spending on corrections (which comprises approximately 89 percent of all state spending on corrections) grew 75.9 percent. Since then, the pace of corrections spending growth has noticeably slowed. From fiscal 2004 through fiscal 2013 total state spending on corrections grew 30.1 percent, and general fund spending on corrections grew 31.5 percent. Corrections spending, like all other areas of the state budget, was greatly impacted by the recent recession. However, corrections spending growth trails most other areas of state spending in the years before, during, and after the economic downturn.
Additionally, in fiscal 2013, corrections and public assistance were the only areas to experience a decline in total state spending. Similarly, for general fund spending the pace of growth was slower than all areas except for higher education.
Due to other spending pressures such as health care, as well as slower growth in corrections spending over the past ten years, corrections now comprises a slightly smaller share of state budgets than in years past. In fiscal 2004, corrections spending comprised 3.5 percent of total state spending, while in fiscal 2013 that number had dropped to 3.1 percent. Likewise, in fiscal 2004, correction spending made up 7 percent of general fund spending, with the number dropping to 6.8 percent in fiscal 2013.
The slower growth rate in corrections spending is partly due to recent efforts states have taken to control corrections spending. Over the past several years, states have begun targeting criminal justice reforms to address the cost drivers of corrections expenditures. According to a September 2013 NASBO issue brief, states have begun controlling costs through reducing recidivism rates, implementing changes to parole and probation systems, enhancing community supervision and drug treatment programs, and enacting sentencing reforms.
Soon, NASBO will be releasing a new State Expenditure Report with updated data on corrections spending and other areas of the state budget like Medicaid and education. The report will contain data on fiscal 2014, as well as updated fiscal 2013 and fiscal 2012 figures, and will break down state spending both by fund source and program area.