SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Prison inmates will be doing their part to cut the state’s big budget deficit.
The state Department of Corrections on Tuesday will lock down all nine state prisons for the day, freeing up many prison guards to take unpaid furlough days.
Inmates will be restricted to their cells for the day, except for meals. There will be similar lockdowns for one day a month through the end of the fiscal year on June 30.
In September, Gov. Chris Gregoire ordered 6 percent across-the-board cuts to state agencies to deal with a $520 million budget deficit.
