State legislators share Green Bay Correctional closure updates. Here are three takeaways.
As Wisconsin's 2025 state budget approaches its June 30 deadline, northeast Wisconsin legislators are fighting to get the closure of Green Bay Correctional Institution included.
In Gov. Tony Evers budget proposal, he included $500 million intended to finance a series of changes to the state's prison system, which would allow for the closure of Green Bay Correctional by 2029. Advocates have been calling for the prison's closure for years, citing rodent infestations, prisoner deaths and homicides, and inhumane conditions.
The Allouez Village Board held a special meeting June 12 to hear updates from state Reps. David Steffen, R-Howard; Benjamin Franklin, R-De Pere; and Sen. Jamie Wall, D-Green Bay, on the potential closure of the 127-year-old maximum security prison. Here are three key takeaways from the meeting.
There is support throughout the state and on both sides of the aisle for closing Green Bay Correctional, Steffen said, "there's an understanding that this has to be done." If it isn't full bipartisan support, Franklin said, "it is very, very strong."
The disagreement comes down to the details of how, Wall said. According to Wall, the Republican caucuses in the Senate and Assembly are interested in different elements of Evers' proposed plan, with senators interested in policy changes like increased vocational training programs and representatives more interested in the physical changes to the current prisons. The Republicans hold majorities in both the Senate and Assembly.
A time for the Joint Finance Committee to meet on the Department of Corrections budget has yet to be scheduled, Wall said, which "may be a good sign" as it gives more time for conversations on how to move forward.
"Everyone has told me that there has been good conversations that have been happening about this, it's just that they weren't the same good conversations," Wall said. "And whether we can square that circle or not is the challenge."
Including a deadline for when Green Bay Correctional will be closed may be what the state needs to get the plans in motion, Steffen said. He and Franklin are fighting for a Dec. 31, 2029, deadline for the prison to be decommissioned to be included alongside funding allocation in the budget.
"Every single one of you in here sets deadlines if you want to get things done, and we need one for this project," Steffen said.
A 2029 deadline mirrors Evers' proposal, Franklin said, and it is a plausible timeline for the project to be completed.
A deadline can "focus people's minds," Wall said, but for those in charge of running the prison adequately until the last inmate is escorted out, the "stakes are quite high" and setting a deadline to "figure it out later" isn't prudent.
Budget negotiations between Evers and Republican legislators collapsed in early June, which Wall said has left the Joint Finance Committee "probably a month behind where they should be." As a result, he said, their attention and time is "at a real premium."
"We're fighting a battle for the attention of the Republican majorities in the finance committee as well, given the situation that they put themselves in," Wall said.
The committee is working hard, Franklin said, "burning the midnight oil" and working weekends. The committee's difficult job, Franklin said, has made getting additions like funding the prison closure challenging.
Vivian Barrett is the public safety reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach her at vmbarrett@greenbay.gannett.com or (920) 431-8314. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @vivianbarrett_.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Wisconsin legislators see bipartisan support for closing Green Bay Correctional
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