The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

The Independent
Hillsdale, NY

Will Governor Paterson save prison?
By RICHARD ROTH
03/13/2008

HUDSON-State and local politicians joined about 75 union members on the lawn of the Columbia County Courthouse Wednesday, March 12, for a rally protesting a plan to close the Hudson Correctional Facility.

Governor Eliot Spitzer had announced his resignation two hours before the rally began, and many of those present said they hoped Lt. Governor David Paterson, who is scheduled to be sworn in as governor Monday, March 17, would take a fresh look at the proposal. Advertisement

"I would hope he would provide a more sympathetic, evenhanded approach and a more studious look at what is happening at Hudson Correctional Facility," Senator Steve Saland (R-41st) told the crowd.

Budget negotiations are currently underway in Albany, and Mr. Saland said the Senate budget proposal restores $5 million for continued operations at the Hudson facility. But he acknowledged that the Assembly will not necessarily agree to the funding. "Attempts to reconcile [budget proposals] will begin Monday," Mr. Saland said during a telephone interview on Thursday.

The Senate proposal also amends Corrections Law to require that the governor give 24 months notice for the closure of a correctional facility, rather than the 12 months notice required under current law. Another Senate budget amendment requires that a plan for a facility's adaptive re-use be given at the same time as the notice of its closure, rather than six months prior to the actual closing date.

HCF employees were taken by surprise when the state Department of Correctional Services announced earlier this year that the department planned to close the prison. So were union officials. "I got a call January 11 at 10:45 a.m. from the governor himself," said Larry Flanagan, president of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA), who took part in Wednesday's rally. "That was the first we'd heard."

Elected officials and union representatives attending this week's the rally said that prisoners from the Hudson facility have a lower recidivism rate than other prisons in the state, and that relations are better between inmates and guards.

"In most jails there's a sense of friction between staff and inmates, but we get along a little better," said HCF union steward Brad Peck. "It's more cohesive. The inmates are out on work crews in the community and they see jobs through."

Kevin Walker, the union's mid-Hudson regional vice president, said the Hudson facility's "guidance, care, custody and control aid inmates re-entering into society in a successful way," making it important not only to the surrounding area but to the state at large. "Hudson Correctional Facility is a vital part of the Department of Corrections," said Mr. Walker.

Inmates learn a variety of useful skills at the facility, according to Kinderhook Town Supervisor Doug McGivney. "It's exactly the kind of prison that should stay open because of its rehabilitation possibilities," said Mr. McGivney. "[Hudson mayor] Rick Scalera taught masonry when he worked there. That's the kind of thing that's going to help an inmate later on."

In one form or another, the prison in Hudson has been in operation since the late 1800s.

Mr. McGivney did not attend Wednesday's rally. But he joined Mr. Scalera, a fellow Democrat, and Columbia County Board of Supervisor's Chairman Art Baer (Hillsdale), and Senator Saland, both Republicans, at a meeting with Department of Correctional Services Commissioner Brian Fischer last week.

Mr. Saland described Mr. Fischer as "a bit less confrontational" during that meeting than he has been on past occasions. And he said he was feeling somewhat positive about prospects for the facility's remaining open.

"What has happened in these types of situations in the past is that, if the Senate has been willing to locate and provide the funds to keep a facility open, prior governors of either party have acquiesced and agreed," said Mr. Saland. "Lt. Governor Paterson is a vastly different person in terms of approach to the issues than is Governor Spitzer. Hopefully there will be greater receptivity."

To contact reporter Richard Roth, e-mail rroth@IndeNews.com.

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http://www.stargazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080314/NEWS01/803140
330/1001/NEWS

Star Gazette
Albany, NY

Assembly, Senate OK two budgets
Now it will be up to Paterson to work out final plan on deadline. March 14, 2008

By Cara Matthews
clmatthe@gannett.com
Star-Gazette Albany Bureau

ALBANY -- While most people's attention was focused this week on Gov. Eliot Spitzer's resignation, the state Assembly and Senate passed versions of a roughly $125 billion budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year.

The two budgets are vastly different, with the GOP-led Senate rejecting the so-called "millionaire's tax" being pushed by the Democrat- controlled Assembly. Increasing the state income tax for people who earn more than $1 million a year would raise $1.5 billion, according to the Assembly.

The Assembly budget would spend a total of $124.8 billion, about $500 million more than proposed by Spitzer. The Senate proposal would spend about $13 million less than the governor's plan, said Scott Reif, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, Rensselaer County.

But with the Spitzer scandal engulfing the state Capitol, neither house had publicly released a financial plan as of Thursday on how its budget would be balanced.

One of the first tasks for Lt. Gov. David Paterson, who will be sworn in as governor Monday, will be to negotiate a budget with the Assembly and Senate. The 2008-09 fiscal year starts April 1, a mere two weeks away. The Assembly and Senate were supposed to start negotiating today, but that got pushed back to Monday.

Paterson said he would spend the weekend with financial advisers "hammering out the details of this budget.

"We cannot afford to waste another second. We have a budget that's due and a deadline to meet," he said.

The budget was adopted a day late last year. Lawmakers usually add spending to what the governor recommends, but that could prove difficult this year because of the poor economy.

Spitzer announced Wednesday that he was leaving office after nearly 15 months. That followed revelations Monday that he was connected with a high-priced prostitution ring.

Spitzer's plan would have hiked spending by 5 percent and closed a $4.4 billion budget gap. Two weeks ago, the Legislature and governor reduced revenue estimates by $250 million because of the economy.

The Senate issued a news release and a Senate Finance Committee report on the budget. Besides rejecting the "millionaire's tax," the Senate voted not to approve other tax and fee hikes in Spitzer's budget, such as higher fees for motor-vehicle registration and new taxes on hospitals, nursing homes and health insurance. Senators rejected Spitzer's plan to close three correctional camps and one prison, and they rejected his plan to redeploy nearly 100 state troopers who work as school resource officers.

The Senate would make up the money by finding places where government could save money, estimating higher collections on cigarette taxes and catching more incidents of Medicaid fraud. The budget includes a total of $900 million in cuts.

"This is a realistic budget plan that holds the line on spending, rejects tax increases, provides critically important tax relief and makes common-sense investments in education and health care," Bruno said in a statement.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, had planned to release details of his house's budget earlier this week, but the news conference was rescheduled to next week because of the Spitzer scandal.

Still, the Assembly passed a "complete budget" this week and does not think the Senate's budget is balanced, said Sisa Moyo, a Silver spokeswoman.

Assemblywoman Susan John, R-Rochester, said the Assembly put off hospital cuts proposed by the governor until Jan. 1 "so that the hospitals would have a better opportunity to analyze the impact and negotiate with the Department of Health." The budget would make up that money with revenues from the millionaire's tax. John said she doesn't think the Senate makes up for in revenue the fee hikes it rejects in the governor's budget.