For Release Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Capitol View
Commentary by J.L. Schmidt
Statehouse Correspondent
The Nebraska Press Association
Heavily Modified Corrections Spending Bill Advances as Part of State Budget


      There are quite a few corrections-centered bills on theÊNebraska LegislatureÕs table this year. While there are some solid ideas dealing with transparency and costs of incarceration, it appears those bills will linger in committee while senators focus on a big-ticket item in the state budget.
      Included in the Appropriations CommitteeÕs budget proposal isÊLB383 introduced by Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers of Lincoln at the request of the Governor. That bill would fund a new multi-custody level correctional facility with capacity to house 1,512 inmates. The $230 million project would be financed mostly by transfers from the Cash Reserve Fund to the Nebraska Capital Construction Fund over the next five years. 
      But the Appropriations Committee disagreed with the GovernorÕs recommendation and amended it to instead transfer $115 million from the General Fund to the Capital Construction Fund. Committee Chairman Sen. John Stinner of Gering offered a successful amendment to take a broader approach by transferring $350,000 in FY2021-22 from the construction fund to the state Department of Correctional Services to update their master plan and examine demand for behavioral and mental health and substance abuse services at current correctional facilities, taking into consideration the physical condition of the facilities.
      The amendment also would appropriate $500,000 in FY2021-22 to the department to prepare a program statement and site selection for a new halfway-back community corrections center in Omaha.
      An additional $18 million would fund the design, planning and construction of three specialty units Ñ to be used for additional mental health and geriatric patients or other 
      
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individuals with special needs Ñ which would add at least an additional 96-bed capacity at the stateÕs reception and treatment center.
      Finally, the amendment would appropriate $14.9 million to fund the preparation of designs for a possible new facility, including site selection and an option to purchase, as well as completion of an independent engineering study regarding the useful life of the current Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln, the departmentÕs oldest facility which opened its doors in 1869. 
              ÒVoting for LB383 doesnÕt mean youÕre voting for a prison,Ó Stinner told his colleagues. ÒIt means that youÕre voting for information.Ó
      Committee vice chair Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln said the amended bill would allow the state to work with experts from the Criminal Justice Institute Ñ and in collaboration with Nebraska stakeholders Ñ to address broader issues of criminal justice reform. She said CJI are federal experts who ÒcoachÓ states on how better to manage their criminal justice systems.
      Nebraska currently has the second highest overcrowded prison system (behind Alabama) in the United States. Wishart said the amended bill would give the state the opportunity to address the Òhistoric wrongÓ of mass incarceration that is Òsteeped in systemic racism.Ó 
      ÒOur country imprisons more people than any other country in the world, and a disproportionate number of those prisoners are Black,Ó Wishart said. ÒWe cannot build our way to criminal justice reform Ñ not possible Ñ nor should we have the goal of doing that.Ó
      Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha, one of two Blacks in the Legislature, opposed the amendment, saying it doesnÕt address the core reasons that individuals end up in the stateÕs correctional system. He said he has witnessed firsthand the stateÕs lack of investment in low-income communities and communities of color such as his North Omaha district. 
      
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      ÒPublic safety is taking care of people,Ó he said. ÒWe donÕt invest in the communities that these people come from. Why do we refuse to address the root issues?Ó
 	The Appropriations Committee deserves credit for taking a reasoned approach to the issue. LetÕs hope that they and their colleagues can withstand pressure from the Governor who isnÕt getting his way.  
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J.L. Schmidt has been covering Nebraska government and politics since 1979. He has been a registered Independent for 21 years.