Wonder what my community could have done with $50 million this year? For sure we'd have given our disabled and chronically ill people medical care, built some housing, gotten some folks off the streets and out of the grips of both those who victimize and those who criminalize them...we could have done a lot with that money. Instead Arizona is building a new Supermax and adding 500 more private prison beds (they usually take the low-level drug users and drunk drivers who could have gone to a treatment program instead - if we had any for those who can't pay, that is...).
For those who think they get drug and alcohol treatment in prison - think again. The DOC says 75% of their prisoners last year came in because of drug/alcohol related problems. How many of the 60,000 prisoners they saw altogether got any treatment?
From their own report:
"In FY 2011, 2,302 inmates completed substance abuse treatment. Substance abuse treatment services include moderate and intensive treatment, methamphetamine treatment, co-occurring disorder treatment, and DUI treatment." What is that - only four percent of the prisoners who got drug or alcohol treatment over the whole year? And we even have special prisons built for them to ge tthat "treatment" in? And Chuck Ryan has a billion dollar budget?
Wow. Where does it all go?
From their own report:
"In FY 2011, 2,302 inmates completed substance abuse treatment. Substance abuse treatment services include moderate and intensive treatment, methamphetamine treatment, co-occurring disorder treatment, and DUI treatment." What is that - only four percent of the prisoners who got drug or alcohol treatment over the whole year? And we even have special prisons built for them to ge tthat "treatment" in? And Chuck Ryan has a billion dollar budget?
Wow. Where does it all go?
------------------from the Capitol Times-------
Republicans ‘stole’ $50 million meant for homeowners
Arizona Capitol Times
Rep. Chad Campbell / Guest Opinion
August 3, 2012 at 10:02 am
I am tired of the political cat and mouse
game that Tea Party Republicans are playing with the Arizona Attorney
General’s Mortgage Settlement Fund. It was wrong to sweep money from the
fund to benefit the private prison industry at the expense of Arizona
homeowners.
Earlier this year, Tea Party Republicans stole $50 million from a fund that was created
by a joint settlement between 49 states, the federal government and the
country’s five largest residential mortgage loan servicers who allegedly
engaged in fraudulent loan and foreclosure practices. The money was
supposed to be used for foreclosure prevention programs in Arizona to
help families hit hardest by the mortgage crisis.
Instead, $50 million was swept into the
general fund and can be used to pay for things like the expansion of
private, for-profit prisons. Coincidently, this year Republicans
approved spending $50 million between now and fiscal year 2014 to build 500 new beds in private prisons.
Here are my questions: How many families
would be able to keep their homes if that $50 million were being spent
on them instead of on 500 new prison beds? Also, do prison beds really
cost $100,000 a piece? It seems to me that $100,000 is closer to the
cost of a house than a bed.
This is a clear indication that Tea Party
priorities are with the private prison industry. Tea Party Republicans
knew that sweeping this fund was going to result in lawsuits and they
did it anyway.
As soon as the fund sweep became public,
there were reports that the Arizona Attorney General’s Office sent
Republican leadership a memo citing legal objections to the sweep.
Republicans have refused to share this
memo. A group of Arizona residents affected by the mortgage crisis is
suing to stop the fund sweep and requested a copy of the memo as part of
the legal proceedings. The Republicans refused, claiming that it was
privileged information. A judge subsequently ruled that the memo was not
privileged but stopped short of ordering them to turn over the
document.
The very fact that Republicans were
working so hard to keep that memo from seeing the light of day is
another indication of their misplaced priorities. They are playing
hide-and-seek with the court while people are losing their homes.
Arizonans deserve leadership they can
count on and who shares their priorities. House Democrats remain focused
on creating jobs, improving education and helping communities get and
stay strong.
— Chad Campbell, a Phoenix Democrat, serves as minority leader in the Arizona House of Representatives.
