U.S. House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler has sent Treasury Department Secretary Janet Yellen a letter urging her to stop states from using American Rescue Plan funds for prison construction, prompting a response from Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey.
Nadler’s letter comes as the Alabama Legislature considers a plan to use $400 million of its $2.1 billion Rescue Plan allocation to help build two 4,000-bed prisons.
The American Rescue Plan Act is a coronavirus relief package passed by Congress in March. Alabama officials say it allows states to replace revenue lost because of the pandemic and allows broad flexibility in spending the replacement dollars.
Nadler, a Democrat from New York, said prisons should not be one of the uses.
“Directing funding meant to protect our citizens from a pandemic to fuel mass incarceration is, in direct contravention of the intended purposes of the ARP legislation and will particularly harm communities of color who are already disproportionately impacted by over-incarceration and this public health crisis. The ARP is a historic effort to provide urgent assistance in a time of great suffering. It should not be used to worsen our national problem of over-incarceration.”
Ivey, whose administration helped develop the plan lawmakers are considering, responded to Nadler.
“The Democrat-controlled federal government has never had an issue with throwing trillions of dollars toward their ideological pet projects,” Ivey wrote. “Their political agenda is glaringly obvious to send a letter to the U.S. Treasury on the first day of our special session asking the federal government to ignore the laws they themselves wrote and to overstep our Alabama-driven plan.
“I would suggest to the New York Congressman, and for that matter the federal government, that they worry more about avoiding the pending government shutdown and running the country. The fact is, the American Rescue Plan Act allows these funds to be used for lost revenue and sending a letter in the last hour will not change the way the law is written. These prisons need to be built, and we have crafted a fiscally conservative plan that will cost Alabamians the least amount of money to get to the solution required. While our prison infrastructure is broken, our ability to govern is not. Same can’t be said for D.C.”
Senate Majority Leader Greg Reed, R-Jasper, also responded to Nadler’s letter with a statement:
“We aren’t going to let a New York City politician tell Alabama what we can and cannot do. These funds are intended to replace revenue lost as a result of the pandemic, and is clearly eligible for prison construction. We are in a special session right now to protect the people of Alabama from a costly federal intervention, and I really couldn’t care less about the opinion of Washington liberals. They should focus more on runaway inflation, the crisis at our Southern border, the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, and focus less on trying to score political points with their base by budding into Alabama’s business.”
Alabama’s plan calls for two new, 4,000-bed men’s prisons. At least five older prisons would close.
Officials plan to pay for the first phase with a $785 million bond issue, the $400 million in Rescue Plan funds, and $154 million from the state General Fund.
More construction, renovations, and closings could follow in later stages.
An Alabama House committee is considering the legislation this morning. It could be voted on by the House on Wednesday.
Updated at 11:34 a.m. to add statement from Sen. Greg Reed.
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