PLATTSBURGH — State Sen. Dan Stec (R,C-Queensbury) said he finds Gov. Kathy Hochul’s remarks about the correction officer strike hard to believe.
He specifically referred to a portion of the governor’s remarks Tuesday about the nine-day strike where she said, “We want to find out what the issue is because the individuals who have walked out…have yet to tell us the issues.”
The striking officers have often said they are most concerned about a lack of staffing, inadequate measures to keep contraband out and the Humane Alternatives to Long Term Incarceration Act that strictly limits the amount of time and which inmates can be sent to special housing.
Stec said he sponsors a repeal of HALT and multiple pieces of legislation designed to crack down on prison contraband. He said he has repeatedly petitioned the governor to take up these bills and just last Thursday sent a letter co-signed by nearly the entire Senate Republican Conference calling for a suspension of HALT.
DISBELIEF
Stec said there has been much outreach on prison safety issues, noting that mediation sessions between the officers and the state are ongoing. With all of that, he said he is in, “disbelief that the governor could be unaware of the very real safety concerns inside correctional facilities.”
“With mediation with officers underway and a wealth of data and outreach at the governor’s disposal, it would be shocking if the governor was unaware of the very real safety concerns of correction officers and the policies that could address them,” Stec said.
“Correction officers, my colleagues and I have spoken out about this time and again. If the governor really doesn’t know what’s going on inside correctional facilities, that’s either a deliberate choice or because DOCCS (Department of Corrections and Community Supervision) officials aren’t being forthcoming. Either way, it’s a failure of leadership on her part.”
Stec, who said he personally delivered copies of his legislation, as well as his correspondence with the governor’s office and DOCCS on HALT, prison safety and the officer strikes directly to the governor’s Capitol office, said Hochul’s disregard for officer safety over the past few years has led to the conditions that caused the strike.
“Instead of feigning ignorance, Governor Hochul needs to finally listen to what the data and the voices of our COs have made clear: take action to repeal HALT and make prison safety a priority,” he said.