ALLOUEZ (NBC 26) — Local elected officials and people who have spent time inside Green Bay Correctional Institution (GBCI) responded Monday to Gov. Tony Evers' state prison reform proposal, which he introduced Sunday.
- After years of people inside and outside GBCI calling for its closure, the state's top elected official now publicly agrees
- Local Republican elected officials welcomed the governor's support at a press conference Monday, indicating they plan to 'tweak,' but not completely rewrite, his plan
- Evers could elaborate further on his proposal at a budget address Tuesday
(The following is the transcription of the full web story, with additional details added for web)
Over the weekend, Governor Tony Evers debuted a prison reform plan that would put $500 million into overhauling the state's corrections system — and it includes something that is music to the ears of many people we spoke with Monday — closing Green Bay's maximum security prison.
Watch Allouez neighborhood reporter Karl Winter's full story here:
"We've proven that Democrats and Republicans can agree on something, and that's what I celebrate," Allouez village president Jim Rafter said. "Today, everyone in the state of Wisconsin should know that Green Bay Correctional needs to closed, for a myriad of reasons."
Local Republicans and former inmate Dant'e Cottingham — who served 11 years at GBCI and now runs an inmate advocacy group— tell NBC 26 this is a positive start.
"Seeing this first step is extremely important," Cottingham said. "I was extremely happy to see that in the proposal there is no plans to build a new prison, which is extremely unnecessary, considering the demographics and the dynamics of the prison population in this state."
The Republicans aren't taking a new prison off the table.
"Is that part of the governor's plan? No, it is not," said state Rep. David Steffen, who represents the 4th Assembly district. "So there'll be continued negotiations. The important part of today is that there's agreement that it has to close."
Another possible sticking point is Evers' idea of expanding the state's early release program.
"It's something that I need to learn more about: our early release program, how it works, the eligibility," Rep. Steffen said, "so it's one of the reasons why I'm not saying I'm 100% for the governor's program."
Newly elected Assembly member Benjamin Franklin represents the prison's district in the state legislature, and says it's bleeding money.
"Prison reform is expensive. Why is it better to close it and go through this entire reform process than to just continue upgrading it?" we asked him.
"Well, I think it really just gets more and more expensive as we continue to not take action," he said.
Not everyone is as confident that the prison will close in the next decade. Longtime GBCI corrections officer Joe Verdegan, who is now retired, and current inmate Gatlin Behnken say they've seen this movie before.
"I'm not buying for one minute that they're going to close GBCI, even in five years," Verdegan said.
"I'd like to believe that this is real, because now here's a solid date stamped on this now," Behnken said. "But there's a lot of people that have been here longer than me, so they've heard this show, over and over and over again. So some people are skeptical."
Behnken, Cottingham and Verdegan also supported Evers' idea to turn Waupun Correctional Institution into a "vocational village" — if it happens.
"The vocational programs GBCI once had actually worked pretty well, and the inmates that were getting released at that time, they were able to obtain employment and become upstanding good citizens in the community by working upon release," Verdegan said. "That's a whole 'nother animal, because Waupun is older than Green Bay."
But the elected officials say there is hope.
"This is a monumental moment, that the governor of Wisconsin has acknowledged the closure of GBCI, the need to do that," Franklin said.
"Make no mistake that GBCI is now on a path of complete and total closure," Steffen said.
Governor Evers' proposal says the prison will shut down in 2029, and maximum security prisoners will move to prisons in Portage, Waupun, or Stanley. He could explain the plan more Tuesday night as he gives a budget address. Steffen indicated 2031 could be a more realistic target date for GBCI's closure.
