New Prison, Criminal Justice Reform Dominate Budget Debate

The Nebraska Legislature continued debating the state budget Wednesday, with the focus on questions about building a new prison and criminal justice reform.

The budget up for debate Wednesday includes all sorts of proposals, including $15.5 million for improvement to the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center in Kearney, $25 million for an ag innovation building at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, $8.3 million for 8 miles of a hiker-biker trail connecting Lincoln and Omaha, and $3.6 million for a 15 percent increase in pay rates for providers of juvenile and behavioral health services.

But by far the largest part of the debate focused on two other issues that were not part of the bill being debated: Gov. Pete Ricketts’ proposal for a new, 1,512 bed, $270 million prison to replace the Nebraska State Penitentiary which was designed to hold 818 people, and proposals for criminal justice reforms designed to hold down future prison population.

Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha, chair of the Judiciary Committee, led off the debate. Lathrop handed out a chart showing even if a new prison is built to replace the Nebraska State Penitentiary, as Ricketts has proposed, prisons would still be overcrowded by more than 1,300 people by the year 2030. Lathrop said that shows reforms, including easier parole and reduced sentences for some drug crimes, are needed in addition to possible construction.

Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha, chair of the Judiciary Committee, led off the debate. Lathrop handed out a chart showing even if a new prison is built to replace the Nebraska State Penitentiary, as Ricketts has proposed, prisons would still be overcrowded by more than 1,300 people by the year 2030. Lathrop said that shows reforms, including easier parole and reduced sentences for some drug crimes, are needed in addition to possible construction.

“We can’t build our way out of this colleagues. If we spent $270 million to add 700 beds to our capacity, we would need to double that just to meet the basic operational capacity by 2030. This conversation is happening during the budget debate because this is a budget issue. Whether you are concerned with the dignity of the people we incarcerate or you look at this fiscally, we have a problem with both,” Lathrop said.

Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth referred to rankings that show Nebraska has overtaken Alabama in having the most overcrowded prisons in the country, and made a football reference.

“Here’s something you’ll never hear in the Nebraska Legislature: I want Alabama to be number one,” Brandt said.

Sen. Lynne Walz referred to the difficulty of finding a place for a new prison, which state officials have said should be located in Omaha, Lincoln, or somewhere in between, including possibly in Fremont.

“As a representative of Fremont – a representative of my community – I have to stand up and tell you that Fremont does not want a prison. And they have some really good reasons why. I’ve been working with my community economic development groups, my business community, my mayor, and it is clear to me that Fremont does not feel they have the workforce to staff a new prison,” Walz said.

Ricketts and some senators oppose some of the proposed criminal justice reforms. Most of the senators who spoke Wednesday agreed with Lathrop that new prison construction should not be undertaken without reforms. But Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, who said he’s spent a lot of time visiting with veterans and Native Americans in prison, focused on the need for new construction to improve prisoners’ lives.

“If you have a facility that is designed correctly, so that the guards are in a contained area, prisoners can move from spot to spot with a little more ease, if it’s got better lighting, if it’s got (a) better cafeteria and kitchen, if it’s got (a) better commissary, I struggle with the idea that we will stay with what we have, because at some point we have to build a new prison. We can’t let what we have degrade to the point where their life is miserable,” Brewer said.

Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue, who previously worked in the state’s prisons, said both construction and reforms are needed.

“I don’t think there’s anybody in this body that doesn’t think that we need to have rehabilitation. And I don’t think there’s anybody in this body that doesn’t think that we shouldn’t be tough on crime. But it’s not one or the other. We have to provide appropriate facilities. We have to provide appropriate programming. And we have to quit kicking the can down the road like we do with everything that festers in Nebraska,” Blood said.

Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha accused his colleagues of not caring about the issue because they didn’t have direct exposure to it, unlike in his high-crime north Omaha district.

“You all don’t care because you all don’t have to live at night and lay in your bed and hear gunshots and hear people get shot around the corner. You don’t have to hear the sirens all night. You don’t have to wake up and answer those phone calls about who got shot and who didn’t get shot – where was it at. You don’t have to hear that. We have to live that. But instead of being smart and investing in communities, you want to build prisons and be tough on crime. And it makes no sense,” McKinney said.

The Legislature adjourned for the day without reaching a vote on the budget bill.

Also Wednesday, Sen. Joni Albrecht filed a motion that would have the Legislature debate her proposal to ban abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe. v. Wade. That proposal remains stuck in the Judiciary Committee, which voted Tuesday not to advance it. It takes a majority of the Legislature, or 25 votes, to pull the proposal out of committee and have it debated. But it would take a 2/3 vote, or 33 senators, to overcome a filibuster that opponents have promised against the bill.

Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers said both that debate, if it happens, and debate on criminal justice reforms would follow debate on budget matters, which is expected to continue through next week.