Wisconsin’s 1st District State Senator was stunned by the announcement of Governor Tony Evers’s plan for the two oldest prisons in Wisconsin.
Republican Andre Jacque of De Pere explained on WOMT’s Be My Guest program yesterday (February 17th) that Evers has rebuffed the issue before with the Green Bay (GBCI) and Waupun Correctional Institutions.
But now Jacque says, it seems he’s changed his mind.
The governor’s office announced last week that the plan would be to close GBCI at a cost of $6.3 million by 2029 and convert Waupun Correctional into a training facility and women’s prison.
Jacque says it shows Evers probably wants to run for reelection.
However, it’s also a matter of time before another incident happens.
“Clearly, safety for both corrections officers and inmates in our corrections institutions is failing,” he said. “We can’t keep slapping the band-aids on these either. It’s been a tremendous cost for taxpayers.”
Incidents have included inmates dying at the hands of other inmates.
Nine employees were also fired from Waupun last year after a suspected drug smuggling scheme.
Jacque says that, with the governor’s proposal, he is excited to have a conversation about what this would look like.
But he’s also hesitant after what Evers’ expectations, reducing the population in the state’s prisons.
“You can’t do that without letting out some people that have some pretty serious offenses,” he noted. “And that’s one of the reasons why it was announced to the media I guess on Friday and publicly to everybody yesterday. As legislators, we haven’t been really brought to the table yet.”
Over the weekend, the Village of Allouez praised Evers for his plan to shut down GBCI.
Evers had his budget proposal meeting with Republican leaders last week.
Republicans still hold a majority in the Wisconsin Legislature and will decide on what parts of the governor’s budget will pass.
