Editor’s note: Click here for a video clip https://youtu.be/4W-7aEakjX8 of Assemblywoman Byrnes on Prison Closures

Assemblywoman Marjorie Byrnes (R,C-Caledonia) is raising concerns about the abrupt closure of correctional facilities around the state after last year’s shutdown of Livingston Correctional Facility. Gov. Cuomo’s inclusion of a 90-day notice period in his Executive Budget, rather than the former one-year phase out period, has had a devastating effect on prison employees, their families and entire communities.

In his proposed budget, Gov. Cuomo will have the authority to close as many state prisons operated by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) as he deems necessary. The governor claims that DOCCS currently has 2,500 beds in excess of its operational capacity, and it is rumored that he intends to close two male medium-security facilities in the upcoming fiscal year.

“I have witnessed the impact of Gov. Cuomo’s implementation of a 90-day notice period in my own district,” said Byrnes. “It is unjustifiable to proceed with a budget that doesn’t allow sufficient time for prison workers, their families and the families of inmates to relocate and find new housing, schools and jobs. Gov. Cuomo holds a total disregard for the far-reaching effects of a decreased notice period, and I will not support a budget that so greatly affects entire communities.”