A tactic to provide leverage when negotiating over the $17-Billion dollar state budget with the Senate sparks controversy in the House. State Representative Quincy Troupe of St. Louis shifted $20-Million out of the Corrections budget and into Social Services, lighting a firestorm among representatives with prisons in their districts. Troupe tries to assure them he wants to use the shift in negotiations, not to create a hole in the Corrections budget. Heated exchanges take place for the next couple of hours during a nearly all-night House session until intense personal negotiations on the floor calm things. Troupe relents and allows $5-Million to be restored in the Corrections budget to provide pay raises for prison guards.
