Senator Dan Stec of Queensbury has presented a proposal to Governor Kathy Hochul in response to the governor’s concerns about the high costs associated with deploying the National Guard in correctional facilities across New York State. This deployment, aimed at addressing a shortage of correctional officers, reportedly costs the state over $100 million every month. In an effort to mitigate these expenses, the governor, along with the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, has also considered granting inmates early release.
Senator Stec’s solution involves rehiring 2,000 correction officers who were previously banned from state employment by an Executive Order from Governor Hochul. Stec claims that this would cost the state only $20 million monthly, significantly less than the current expenditure on the National Guard.
“If the governor is complaining about the cost of deploying the National Guard inside correctional facilities, there’s an easy solution: just rehire the COs you banned from all state employment,” said Stec. He argued that the National Guard is not suitable for these duties and that early release of inmates is not a viable solution to staffing shortages. Rehiring the officers, he believes, not only boosts prison safety but also offers substantial cost savings of $80 million per month.
Stec further stated, “It’s past time for Governor Hochul to stop waging war on public safety and correction officers. Do the right thing and allow these 2,000 COs to return to correctional facilities.”
