There's a crisis in Florida's prison system, and now state lawmakers are taking action.

In the past few years, inmates have been beaten, starved and some have even died. In one instance, an inmate died by scalding hot shower. But often, the investigations into them have been open and shut.

The former head of Florida's prison system said he was even pressured by Gov. Rick Scott's office to downplay the inmate abuse scandal at the height of the governor's re-election campaign.

Scott says a new prison boss, combined with more money, will take care of the issue.

"We're continuing to increase funding," Scott said. "We have a true reformer now running the department."

But some lawmakers aren't so sure. On Thursday, a powerful Senate committee put the finishing touches on its own plan to put a stop to the abuse, one that would hire hundreds of new guards and launch an independent commission to watch over the prison system and the way it's being run.

"What is clear, I think, and what all of this talk we've had about the Department of Corrections, what has become clear is that there's too much pressure on the system," said Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island.

More money could mean more problems for Scott. The man ultimately in charge of Florida's prison system is being roundly criticized over his handling of the unfolding scandals, and now lawmakers could be about to take matters into their own hands.

Democrats in the Florida House of Representatives are calling on their chamber to get behind the prison commission plan. They say the Department of Corrections is under too much political pressure from the governor to truly get to the bottom of why inmates are turning up beaten and dead.

"We are watching whether or not investigations get opened, surreptitiously closed, without credible conclusion," said Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg. "And so, culture is not arrived at overnight, nor is cultural change arrived at with one new secretary.

The governor has asked for $50 million to hire 300 new prison guards, but lawmakers plan on coming up with even more, so existing guards - many of whom make just $30,000 a year - can have a raise.