By 1975, patient populations had dropped to 1/3 capacity at Mendota MHI and a sister facility, Winnebago Mental Health Institute, near Oshkosh and politicians made efforts to close one of the Institutes. Governor Patrick Lucey (D) urged the Legislature to close Winnebago and Democrats in the State Assembly Finance committee supported that effort. However, Republicans in the State Senate voted to close the Mendota facility instead. Governor Lucey threatened to veto a budget that included funding for both facilities, but the Legislature ended up funding both anyway. In November 1975, Governor Lucey dropped his efforts to close Winnebago MHI. As of 2014, both facilities were still open. In 1977, the Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Waupun, Wisconsin was converted from a prison hospital to Dodge Correctional Institution, a maximum security adult male correctional facility. Some of the patients, like Ed Gein, were transferred to Mendota.