A sign of the southern regional prison in Beaver, W.VA. (Chris Jackson | West Virginia Watch)
While the district officials have exposed themselves to the planned federal cuts in food banks, SNAP and school feeding programs, the district officials know that they do not know how their counties can afford the financing of popular, non-assigned services such as senior citizens and food banks if they continue to augment.
Instead of taking these tax concerns, which were expressed seriously by district officials, the legislators have postponed the legislation of the state that would make the problem of high prison bills enormously worse, with millions of more dollars more dollars on the failed war against drugs, while they do not provide additional financing for prevention and treatment programs that have been proven.
Senate Bill 196What has already passed the Senate proposes 21 increased penalties for drug violations when research is clear that higher punishments do not deter drug trafficking or reduce the demand for drugs.
Guidelines such as SB 196 are not only responsible, but also according to the latest survey data, but also very unpopular among voters West Virginia.
SB 196 was brought under a false story by the Senate that it is only aimed at Fentanyl if the truth is that SB 196 must triple the minimum time that a person has to serve in prison from one year to three years for drug violations that do not contain fentanyl.
Leave the immersion.
Due to the increased obligatory prison sentence, SB 196 will have a major impact on our state budget, and the biggest financial goal is felt directly by the counties. Higher penalties will lead to higher bonds, which will cause more people to be imprisoned more days that are paid by the county.
While all 55 counties can expect the prison bills to be increased when SB passes 196 and all taxpayers expect to pay millions more for prison costs, it is the poorest counties that lose the most.
For example, we take Clay County, home country of the speaker of the House of Delegates. Clay County has the smallest budget in the state (1.7 million US dollars). According to analysis of the department for corrections and rehabilitation data by the West Virginia Center for household and politics, Clay County used 286.3 percent of its assigned prison days last year, which led to a prison calculation that corresponded to 39.9 percent of the overall budget of the district. Currently Clay County has a prison calculation debt that is abrasive Twice the value of his annual budget. SB 196 is a poorly considered policy that would break the budgets of our poorest counties.
Youngest Surveys The voters carried out by Purster Mark Blankenhip also reveals significant concerns regarding the augment in criminal punishments and the detention costs. Almost 6 out of 10 Republicans in West Virginia believe that it is essential to reduce prison and the prison population in the state. The results are not surprising because they come at a time when the state spends more for the detention of a single person than the average income for someone who works in the state and costs taxpayers 420 million US dollars for his prisons and prisons During the 2024 financial year.
Some other highlights from the survey include:
- The voters believe that the best way to keep the municipalities in West Virginia secure through investments in prevention, housing, vocational training as well as drug and mental health treatment (65%) instead of increased prison and prison terms (32%).
- Six out of ten voters support the reduction of criminal punishments for the possession of controlled substances and the treatment of drug exploit as a public health problem, including the majority (56%) of the Republicans.
- Six out of ten Republicans support the elimination of mandatory minimum minimum drug offenses.
SB 196 and invoices such as threatening part of the progress that the legislature has made in recent years to prioritize the treatment and reduce the obstacles to re -entry. West virginians agree: If our legislators want to be challenging for crime, you should spend our tax money for prevention and treatment, not for more failed and costly politics of the past.
