It seems completely bizarre that in 2023 there could be a prison system, in a state as know for its extreme temperatures as Texas is, that doesn't have AC. Unfortunately, 70% of Texas prisons are without this life saving and common mechanical feature. This creates dangerous living and working conditions for population members and staff. As mentioned above, maintaining staffing levels has been an ongoing issue for years. This legislative session, the Texas House of Representatives not only filed four bills in favor or AC, they also appropriated money for two phases of a four phase plan in the states budget to address the issues of inhumane living and working conditions.  The Senate blocked two of these bills that passed in the House and removed the money from the state budget. One of the ways that we can change the course we are on is by recognizing that inhumane conditions are a detriment to all who are exposed to them on a daily basis. According to  Prison Policy Initiative each year that a prisoner is incarcerated reduces their life span by two years, and the Compassion Prison Project reports that a corrections officers life span is 59 years compared to the national average of 78.5 years. Installing AC and maintaining temperature between 65 and 85 degrees would greatly improve the quality of life and the work environment, and in the long run would save the state money currently spent fighting lawsuits, pay workman comp claims, run excessive electrical heat mitigation efforts, and would lower the overall medical budget needed to support a rapidly aging prison system of elderly people who are more susceptible to heat.