Governor Kay Ivey’s recently announced prison proposal has been mildly controversial given it has been deemed a go-it-alone approach by the executive branch without any official blessing from the legislature as a body.
With the legislature’s 2020 regular session cut short and the Ivey administration seemingly unwilling to call a special session anytime soon, any input the Alabama Legislature could offer will likely have to wait until the 2021 regular session.
During an interview with Mobile radio’s FM Talk 106.5, State Sen. Clyde Chambliss (R-Prattville) called the governor’s proposal “bittersweet,” given it allows Elmore County, which is within his Senate District 30, to remain part of the Alabama Department Corrections’ system. However, the new facility would be built in a different part of Elmore County than the existing facilities under the Ivey proposal.
“It’s certainly bittersweet,” he said. “It’s sweet that Elmore County still has a mega-prison. Elmore County — we first made the commitment in the 1830s and have continuously operated prisons since then to keep the citizens of our state safe. But you know, it’s also a little bit of a challenge because we’re moving from one side of a county to the other side of the county. So there will be a challenge with new infrastructure that has to be built. And then there will be a challenge with the infrastructure that has been left because you know, that infrastructure obviously has a cost. And if the revenue associated with that cost goes away, then the rate-payers have to pick up that difference. Now, unfortunately, in this area, we’ve already had that happen one time with a major industry that had closed. And now we’re looking at a similar type of situation with the prison water and wastewater volume going away in west Elmore County. So, we’re still fighting. We’re trying to do everything we can to make sure we stay whole and are having a lot of discussions with the Governor’s office to try to make that happen.”
“[W]e have to keep in mind that the infrastructure that I am talking about 5% or 10% piece of the overall piece,” Chambliss continued. “So, me not having every detail of the overall puzzle — I just have to give them the benefit of the doubt, at least until all of that is finalized, that the overall picture is what is best for our state.”
Chambliss argued now that there is a concrete proposal that clears up uncertainties dealing with the new prison locations, there could be the will within the legislative branch to finance the proposal.
Past legislatures had been unwilling or reluctant to take on new prison construction given disagreements over the locations of facilities. However, he added that one benefit to the lease proposal could be savings on maintenance costs, which depends on the terms of the lease.
“I would say that the will is there now — and I say now because there were a lot of questions about where these prisons are going to be located,” he explained. “And when there is uncertainty, unknowns — people are apprehensive. You know, it’s like signing a billion-dollar blank check, and you don’t know what is going to happen. That was a big apprehension all along. Obviously, the [Department of Corrections] has gone through a lengthy process to determine the best locations in the state for these three prisons. They’ve done that with Elmore, Escambia and Bibb Counties. As far as I know, there’s not been any real major pushback on ‘those are terrible places.’ I think, by and large, most people think those are the best places. Now that those three are done, only big uncertainties are what prisons are going to close and how that’s going to affect other areas, just like what I’m talking about. I think there is some will to do it.”
“The next question is, will we get to that point in the next session, or will it already be done?” Chambliss continued. “The big thing is the maintenance. When you’re doing it the way the Governor is doing it now, the maintenance is rolled in — so when we have dips in the economy, that’s the first thing we generally take out of someone’s budget. That’s what got us into the situation that we’re in now with the dilapidated prisons. So, it’s not just a pure dollars-and-cents assessment. You have to look at that long-term maintenance as well and include it in the plan that’s moving forward now.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.
