The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

Would the state's two nominees for governor have made the same choice? Republican Robert F. McDonnell and Democrat R. Creigh Deeds lamented the layoff of 288 correctional workers, particularly in rural parts of the state hard hit by the economic downtown. McDonnell also said public safety programs must be protected in times of economic distress.

"In tough economic times when there is a potential for an increase in crime, we should not enact any cuts to law enforcement," McDonnell said.

"It is a bitter pill to swallow," Deeds said. "The governor was faced with difficult choices, but I'm very sorry that was a choice he made."

At the same time, both candidates applauded Kaine (D) for making difficult decisions in a challenging budget cycle. And neither offered alternatives to replace the $36 million that the prison cuts will save, much of it expected from the sale of one of the prisons for $25 million to local governments in need of a regional jail.

Last week marked the fourth time since the state's two-year budget cycle began in July 2008 that Kaine has announced cuts to bring state spending in line with ever-shrinking projections for tax receipts. This time, Kaine limited the impact on K-12 education and local government, but he cut as much as 15 percent in aid to colleges and universities, trimmed aid to police and sheriff's departments, and ordered a one-day furlough in May for most of the state's 102,000 employees.

As the state's largest agency, the Corrections Department employs 12,900 workers and operates 40 facilities, many of them in far-flung areas where unemployment is high and where a prison is as much a jobs center for the local workforce as it is an arm of the state's public safety apparatus.

As a result, making deep cuts in state spending without touching corrections is difficult. Yet cutting corrections is painful for rural communities that are suffering economically.

"Obviously, there's going to be some dislocation, some discomfort with a lot of the people in those parts of the state where they're closing those prisons," said House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford), who, like McDonnell, applauded Kaine for not raising taxes. "And you've probably got high unemployment to begin with."

The two prisons to be closed are in Brunswick County, in Southside Virginia along the North Carolina border, and in Botetourt County to the southwest. The juvenile center is in Rockbridge County, also to the southwest.

Kaine's announcement marks the end of a building spree during which Virginia's prison population jumped from below 30,000 to nearly 39,000. Fueled in part by the abolition of parole in the mid-1990s, by tougher sentences for violent crimes and by the economic benefit, state lawmakers authorized the construction of 15 facilities, about one a year.

Because prison population growth has waned -- even reversing in the past year -- one of those new facilities is ready to open but not needed. Another has opened only partially, with an entire wing remaining mothballed for now.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/12/AR2009091202
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