Omaha World Herald. January 23, 2019
Nebraska Legislature officials need a mutual understanding about the 2020 prison deadline
Nebraska’s prison system is heading toward an important July 2020 deadline. A back-and-forth last week between Nebraska lawmakers and the state prison director showed the need for greater clarity and common purpose on the deadline. Otherwise, the state risks heading toward confusion and disarray on one of the central challenges facing Nebraska government.
Nebraska lawmakers met with Corrections Director Scott Frakes to discuss the state’s prison overcrowding. Frakes disagreed with State Sen. Steve Lathrop, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, about what exactly the state is required to do if it fails to meets a 2020 deadline set by law.
The discussions showed two needed actions by Nebraska lawmakers. First, they need to examine the current state-law language setting the 2020 deadline and make any needed clarifications to remove uncertainty over the prisoner-release requirements.
Second, they should look to the next two-year budget and consider whether additional appropriations are needed to strengthen prisoner re-entry programs that Frakes described as crucial to addressing the overcrowding problem. Too many inmates face long waiting lists for programs required for their release.
The current statute says the state must bring inmate numbers down to 140 percent of capacity (747 fewer inmates than currently) by July 2020. If it fails to meet the deadline, the state Parole Board would need to start releasing prisoners to get capacity below 125 percent (requiring a reduction of about 1,200 inmates).
But how quickly would releases occur, and what specific criteria would the state Parole Board use in making its decisions? Considerable uncertainty and disagreement exist on those questions. Lathrop said the law pushes the state hard to speed up prisoner releases, while Frakes emphasized flexibility the law allows the Parole Board.
The state prison system currently is at about 162 percent of capacity, with 5,470 inmates. In addition, the state is housing 110 inmates in county jails.
Frakes listed steps taken by the Ricketts administration since 2015 to boost bed numbers and expand services for inmate re-entry to society. The administration is proposing $49 million in the new two-year budget for 384 high-security beds in Lincoln and aims to further strengthen prisoner transition efforts. That and other construction projects are projected to bring prison capacity below 140 percent, but they would not be completed until 2023.
A degree of tension between the legislative and executive branches over prison policy may be unavoidable. Putting the 2020 deadline into law, for example, was the Legislature’s attempt to push the prison system to resolve the overcapacity problem.
Still, the prison issue is challenging enough without our legislative and executive branches getting into a scuffle over how to interpret the law. It’s in the public interest that, at a minimum the Legislature, Corrections Department and Parole Board have a common understanding of the processes and parole criteria if the 2020 deadline isn’t met.
State senators can aid that goal by removing the current law’s uncertainties and considering increased budgetary support for programs to help prisoners make successful transitions back into society.
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Lincoln Journal Star. January 25, 2019
College savings plan bills mark major upgrade
Editorials in this space frequently note that funding higher education is the most important investment Nebraska can make in its own future.
When that argument is being made, it generally focuses on ensuring the University of Nebraska system receives adequate state aid. But a suite of bills before the Nebraska Legislature approaches the same topic from an entirely different angle.
State senators have introduced five pieces of legislation at increasing Nebraskans’ college attainment by increasing funding, tax credits and general awareness of the Nebraska Educational Savings Trust, or 529 plans. When taken together, they represent the most ambitious update to the program in its nearly two decades of existence.
New State Treasurer John Murante deserves credit for studying what’s worked elsewhere in the country and bringing it back to Nebraska. When he met with the Journal Star editorial board as a candidate for his present office, he spent much of the discussion laying out his vision to improve the state’s 529 plans.
The final product, introduced piecemeal by a bipartisan slate of senators, delivers.
Perhaps the most sweeping change is the Meadowlark Scholarship Act, being carried by new Revenue Committee Chair Sen. Lou Ann Linehan. Her bill proposes creating a 529 plan for each of the roughly 25,000 children born each year in Nebraska and placing $100 seed money - raised by philanthropic donations for education rather than general fund dollars - in every account.
A large-scale study, conducted in Oklahoma by Washington University in St. Louis, followed a randomized group of children seed money at birth. The survey found the youth had increased educational outcomes and better mental health, with racial disparities in test scores all but eliminated. More awareness of college savings plans led to more donations into these accounts.
In an era where fewer and fewer stable, good-paying jobs accept just a high school diploma, additional education at a trade school, community college or university becomes ever more imperative. Yet Murante says 80 percent of Nebraskans don’t know about 529 plans, with 65 percent of Nebraska-held accounts by his office concentrated in Lancaster, Douglas and Sarpy counties.
These trends make a compelling case for this collection of legislation.
Other bills in the package seek to increase matching funds for low-income Nebraskans of all ages, extend the tax deduction for donations beyond immediate families and create related tax credits for employers and individuals. Murante estimates their combined total impact to be less than $1 million per year - while paying untold dividends long into the future.
There’s that theme of investment once again. Making college savings accounts more accessible and easier to use offers strong potential to improve the future outcomes for Nebraska students of all ages.
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Kearney Hub. January 24, 2019
YRTC issues are tough sell in Unicam
State Sen. John Lowe of Kearney will be bucking history if he is able to shepherd his two bills related to the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center at Kearney through the Nebraska Legislature. Lowe wants stiffer punishment for assaulting YRTC staffers and money to fence the facility and deter escapes.
Lowe will have tough sledding because as recently as seven years ago, state Sen. Galen Hadley of Kearney was unable to advance his YRTC-related measure out of the Judiciary Committee. Hadley asked colleagues in 2011 to make it a felony for attacking staffers at YRTC, but the bill died in committee.
Lawmakers gave Hadley, who was a seasoned and respected lawmaker, the cold shoulder on his YRTC legislation. Is that the kind of reception Lowe also will receive when he attempts to advance his proposals?
Lowe needs the support of his Kearney constituents. He has invested numerous hours meeting and talking with residents who live in the path of YRTC runaways, and he’s invited fellow senators to listen at town hall meetings when Kearneyites express their frustrations and fears about YRTC.
Lowe said he already has discussed his proposals with fellow senators. He is wise to presell his ideas. He has learned from Hadley’s earlier setback and from more current history that Nebraska lawmakers are hard to win over on corrections-related issues, including staff safety and overcrowding. Selling colleagues on his ideas - to stiffen penalties for assaulting public safety officers and to build a $2 million fence around the YRTC in Kearney - will be challenging, but it appears Lowe is laying the foundation for a good debate.
We wish him well. Given the deadly serious problems afflicting Nebraska’s adult prisons, lawmakers may be inclined to assign a lower priority to Lowe’s plans. That would be a mistake.
It’s past time to put some teeth in Nebraska statute to protect YRTC staff. If lawmakers doubt the danger level, let them imagine being whacked in the head by pool balls swung in a sock. That’s one of the tricks of the boys sent to YRTC for rehabilitation.
And if lawmakers doubt the need for a fence, have them talk with neighbors who lock themselves in their homes whenever there’s an escapee on the loose.
Lawmakers should listen to Lowe. This problem is centered in Kearney, but it cannot be solved by Lowe’s single vote. Protecting YRTC staff by appropriately punishing violence and reassuring Kearney neighbors by building a fence require majority support in the Legislature. To all lawmakers, we urge you to listen when Lowe speaks about the issues at YRTC.
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