TaxWatch's 12 Recommendations Likely to Support Rick Scott Plan for Prisons

In a Sunday story, TV-13 Tallahassee reports Florida TaxWatch is about to deliver a report to Gov.-elect Rick Scott and legislators that lists 12 recommendations for slashing Floridas prisons budget -- very much in keeping with Scott's provisional plan.

The report likely will be delivered during the week's Senate committee meetings.

Mind you, that fact is reported last in TV-13's story. Nearer the top is the state law enforcement union's contention that Scott's plan to reduce the prisons budget by $1 billion is going to jeopardize the security of millions of Floridians.

Matt Puckett of the union told TV-13, "Where are you going to get the other money that its going to require to take that cut? We think that its going to be closing facilities and letting inmates go, and thats a prescription for disaster. And we dont agree with that, and we will fight it.

TaxWatch's Rob Weissert disagrees: The idea that we need to maintain prisons in order to maintain public safety is a myth. We dont. There are many programs that are actually more effective, that actually enhance public safety.

Scott has said he's looking to employ "market-based salaries" throughout the prison system, privatize some inmate services such as health clinics and require inmates to grow their own food.

Said TV-13, Weissert also called Scott's plan "an innovative way to bring a bloated bureaucracy down to size."