LANSING – State Representative Alma Wheeler Smith (D-Salem) today called for a "reality check" for Republican legislators who have taken to grand-standing on the issue of Corrections reform.
"It is unfortunate that some of my colleagues have decided to take the path of press releases and un-researched speculative policy options instead of working towards real, factual and data-driven reforms," said Smith who is the Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Corrections. "Privatizing services in the Department of Corrections has failed in other states and has cost some states like Florida millions of dollars to put their state run operations back in place. In these tough economic times, to gamble with hundreds, if not thousands of Michigan citizen jobs is simply not worth the risk."
Representative Smith points out that while the results from the
Republican proposed theories of cost savings are largely unknown, there are many ways to achieve savings that are data
driven, as outlined by the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center report.
"The reforms proposed by the CSG workgroup are founded in a true bi-partisan spirit. The press conference today held by
Senate Republicans proved that they are more worried about upholding their tough-on-crime image than working together to
truly accomplish the task at hand" said Smith, "The simple truth is that we have the ability to be smart on crime and to
still keep the public safe. The taxpayers deserve a smarter, more effective approach to corrections."
It is important to note that Senators Alan Cropsey and Wayne Kuipers have both served on the CSG workgroup that adopted several reforms earlier this year. One of the changes would require the parole board to release prisoners that have served no more than 120 percent of their earliest release date barring any serious threat to public safety.
"Michigan citizens do not need more games with corrections, they need real results that reduce prison spending and focus those dollars on crime prevention, education and healthcare," Smith said, "I stand committed to true Corrections reform and look forward to working with the Senate in a truly bi-partisan fashion in the coming weeks to pass the CSG recommended policy options and reinvestments."