Closure of McNeil Island prison on the table

[u-burnt-up]

You sound like a typical bleeding-heart, hug-a-thug activist. You have no qualms criticizing and insulting those who risk having their own blood spilled. You, however, wouldn't have the heart to consider stepping foot in any correctional setting. Coward.

[Greg]

The legislature has set their sights on McNeil Island, and now they are locked and loaded. All that's left is to pull the trigger.

McNeil Island is officially on the chopping block in the budget released by the WA State Senate. The house releases their budget tomorrow.

State Senate budget plan would cut $3.8B — education takes a hit

Senate Democrats delivered on promises to slash state spending when they released their proposed budget this morning, and public education is apparently one the hardest hit areas with more than $1 billion in proposed cuts.

By Andrew Garber

Seattle Times staff reporter



OLYMPIA — Senate Democrats delivered on promises to slash state spending when they released their proposed budget this morning, and public education is apparently one the hardest hit areas with $1.3 billion in proposed cuts.

Documents released this morning indicate the budget cuts $753 million in funding for Initiative I-728, which was approved by voters in 2000 to reduce class sizes in public schools; $285 million for levy equalization money for property-poor districts, and more than $400 million in other education cuts.

Other reductions in spending include: $251 million in health care for the poor; $485 million for higher education; and $710 million in pay and benefits for state workers and teachers.

The proposed budget would cut about 10,000 slots for students at state colleges and universities, close the McNeil Island prison and Green Hill juvenile detention center, and result in about 8,000 layoffs among state employees, Senate budget writers said.

Overall, the proposed two-year budget would spend about $1 billion less than the current biennial spending plan. That's the first time budget writers can recall that happening, and it reflects the dramatic decrease in tax collections as the recession deepens.

"Today is a sobering day for our state," Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said in a written statement. "We're doing what none of us came to Olympia to do, and that is to introduce a budget that cuts more public services than any lawmakers in state history."

The Senate's budget also would reduce contributions to the worker-retirement programs by $411 million over the next two years.

The budget also includes proposals to eliminate certain tax breaks, such as a real estate tax exemption for sales of property by financial institutions when the property was obtained through foreclosure. That would raise $54 million. It's not clear yet how the Senate proposes doing this, given a state law that requires a two-thirds vote in the Legislature or a vote of the people to increase taxes.

Overall, the Senate is proposing a 2009-11 spending plan worth $32.1 billion, including about $850 million in reserves. The current two-year budget, after some steps were taken to reduced spending, is about $33.2 billion.

However the cuts go deeper than those figures would indicate. Overall, the Senate budget cuts spending by about $3.8 billion.

Most of that are reductions in proposed increases in spending.

Simply put, it generally costs more each year to provide the same level of state services, due to inflation, population increases and other factors.

For example, when more children enroll in public schools, the state must pay for their basic education as required in the state Constitution. Washington currently is seeing a spike in enrollment, in part, some officials think, because many financially strapped parents are pulling their kids out of private school.

In addition, the state, like the private sector, has to deal with increased health-care costs and wage increases.

The net effect is a reduction in state services provided because the state can't afford the increased costs of doing business.

Andrew Garber: agarber@seattletimes.com or 360-236-8268

[wsr707]

The media is reporting that McNeil Island will be out of service July 1st, 2010.

[Greg]

Closing prisons could save $30 million in the proposed budget

The state Senate suggests closing two of the state's oldest prisons — McNeil Island Correctional Complex and Green Hill School — to save money.

By Jennifer Sullivan

Seattle Times staff reporter


The state Senate would close two of the state's oldest prisons to save money.

McNeil Island Correctional Complex, which began as a federal prison in 1875, and Green Hill School, a juvenile lockup that first opened in 1896, are among the largest facility closures included in the Senate budget released by the Democratic majority Monday.

The closures would save about $30 million in the proposed two-year budget.

Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Margarita Prentice said she believes the island prison is dangerous for staff and inmates because it's so old. The facility started housing state inmates in 1981 and remains the country's last island prison accessed only by boat.

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown said McNeil Island is more expensive to operate than other state prisons.

The Pierce County prison houses about 1,300 inmates who would be shuffled to other prisons if it is closed. Green Hill School, a maximum-security facility in Chehalis, holds 186 offenders ranging in age from 17 to 20.

Senate Democrats also would cut costs by reducing prison sentences for some offenders and ending at-home police checks of Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders. Those offenders are believed to be the most likely to reoffend.

Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, said Democrats should place a higher priority on prisons.

"What good does it do to have great schools if our children are raped, murdered and assaulted to and from school? Public safety has to be the first call," Carrell said.

The closure of McNeil Island wouldn't affect the Special Commitment Center, the state's mental-health program for civilly committed sex offenders.

Jennifer Sullivan: 360-236-8267 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com

[Greg]

KOMO 4 News video on Teamsters protest of possible closure

KING 5 Video report on possible closure

Kudos to Teamsters 117 Head Honcho Tracey Thompson for putting us out front on this plan.

[u-burnt-up]

My heart goes out to you guys at Mcneil Island. I was stationed at Ft. Lewis back in the day. Don't give up the fight ,though, we just won ours.Morris Daily Herald

[Greg]

Published April 13, 2009

Senate aims to cut costs at prison

Ian Demsky

By cutting many inmate sentences short by one or two months to free up beds, the Senate Ways & Means Committee calculated that McNeil Island Corrections Center could be closed, saving almost $16 million by the end of this biennium. And the real savings, an estimated $31 million per year, would follow.

But when trying to understand what that would mean for Pierce County, there is more to consider than raw dollar figures, some critics say. Although it's ultimately not for them to decide, the plan lacks the support of Department of Corrections Secretary Eldon Vail; the Teamsters union, which represents many of the 587 staff members who work at McNeil; and the Department of Social and Health Services, which runs a civil commitment center for sex offenders on the island.

$50 million to operate

Ferrying people and supplies to and from the facility makes housing offenders at McNeil pricey. The prison has the highest per-inmate cost of the state's medium security facilities, running $37,000 per inmate per year, $6,000 above the state average. McNeil costs nearly $50 million per year to operate.

The state House and the state Senate have made different pitches for trimming corrections costs.

The Senate would get most of its savings by reducing spending inside of the prisons — including letting many inmates out a month or two early and closing McNeil — while the House proposes cutting back on supervision of ex-convicts after they get out of prison and go back into the community.

John Lane, the governor's policy adviser on criminal justice, said the administration hasn't seen a bill yet that would bring the average daily population of the system down far enough to close McNeil.

"We need to wait and see what happens at the end of session," he said, noting that the administration generally agreed with Vail, who thinks the logistics of making cuts while maintaining the integrity of the system are best left to the agency itself.

"We're going to have to make some hard decisions," Vail said. "But I'd prefer they leave it to us to make those decisions."

From Vail's perspective, the state likely would be better served shutting down units in multiple prisons rather than closing an entire facility. That would give the department more flexibility as the state's financial situation changes and as the inmate population fluctuates.

"Prison population tends to rise faster during an economic downturn," Vail said.

There's also the $165 million the state has spent since 1990 to improve the facilities on the island.

"I'd like to see us get the full life cycle out of the investment we put in," he said.

Some location advantages

And for its financial disadvantages, the prison has a number of advantages, Vail said. The facility has the added security of being on an island accessible only by boat, and it's on the Interstate 5 corridor, making it convenient for visitors and staff members.

On Wednesday, the union ratified a new two-year contract that would ensure that employees at McNeil had seniority and transfer rights if the facility closed, said union spokesman Paul Zilly. It did not include a wage increase.

Thompson said she thought transferring the work of running the island's ferry service, its fire department and its wastewater treatment plant to the DSHS also might pose a problem.

"They are under an obligation to bargain about changes in working conditions," Thompson said. "They can't unilaterally transfer work outside of our bargaining unit."

The DSHS operates the Special Commitment Center, which opened in 1990 to house civilly committed sex offenders who are deemed a continuing threat even after their prison sentences. It's currently home to about 300 residents.

Steve Williams, a spokesman for the DSHS, said having both the prison and the sex offender center on the island created an economy of scale.

"We consider what they do to be kind of our lifeline to the island," he said. "They even have a SWAT-type team that we can call if we need it."

The Senate estimated that transfer of those services would stick the DSHS with a yearly bill of $4.2 million (if they aren't contracted out). Williams said DSHS calculations put the figure at $12 million.

Ron Lucas, the mayor of Steilacoom, which sits just across the water from McNeil, said closing the facility would hurt local shops and gas stations.

"It's an issue that will have a bigger impact on small business in our community," he said. "Small business is where you hire people."

The town might also have to adjust its $100,000-a-year contract with the owners of Steilacoom Marine and Spirits, who pay for the privilege of running the local parking operation utilized by those going to the island.

If there is a nonfinancial silver lining to closing McNeil, it would be one fewer facility located in a county where officials have been fighting for years for a more equitable distribution of criminal justice facilities, especially offender treatment and work-release programs.

Hard-won requirements now make the state ship directly released inmates back to their county of origin. But Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Gerry Horne has blamed the state work-release program for funneling into the county more than its fair share of ex-convicts; that, in turn, makes the crime rate worse because so many offenders return to crime after their release from prison.

Some offenders' families also relocate to the areas around prisons.

Closing the prison wouldn't have a huge effect, but it's another small step toward parity, said deputy prosecutor Mark Lindquist.

"Here in Pierce County we've got Purdy (women's prison), McNeil, the Special Commitment Center, Western State Hospital and the federal detention center," he said. "Add all that together and it puts a burden on our criminal justice system and social services."

News Tribune staff writer Joseph Turner contributed to this report.