Issue Position: Ensuring our tax dollars are wisely spent

Issue Position

Quick Snip: We pay taxes to get something DONE. We should strive to get it done in an efficient manner, but one that serves the long range goals of Vermont's citizens and the state's economic health.

The expanded discussion: My focus today is a recently reported news story, where many of our prison population are now being (once again?) transported to another out of state facility where our taxes will enrich another community by providing Jobs to their workers and money to their local businesses. VERY shorted sighted in my opinion.

Point one, we are enriching a private corporation that has no allegiance to Vermont, pays us no taxes back on their business, and is simply a cash OUT situation. Point two, the facility provides little to no REHABILITATION for our prison population-which is a core principle of our end goal with much of the population in our jails. Point three, we "get back" a population that has mixed with offenders who are possibly much more hardened than the population we send away, returning criminals who have effectively been to Crime academy for several years. Lastly, we still bear the financial burden of providing the treatment for behavior change at the end of the offenders sentence, when they return to Vermont.

This is just one example of our need to take care of our business at home and do it the Vermont way. Private prison corporations should not be a part of the solution.

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