Laconia Prison and the State Budget
Gov. Lynch issued some proposals for trimming the state budget this past week.
Among the proposed, he suggested closing 16 State Liquor Stores (with the weakest revenue), changing EZ Pass programs and CLOSING the Laconia Prison. Inmates would be transferred to the Berlin facility (where a gymnasium would be converted to bunks to house 100), and some to Concord, I believe.
I'm not sure what to make of this - the state still has to maintain a then-emptied campus of facilities, the number of inmates doesn't decrease - it just MOVES, and I would imagine that would make it far harder for Guards to keep peace in over crowded prisons.
If this will save the state money - why, and how? Would such a change affect surrounding property value? Will it affect the local market by losing those jobs held by prison guards, facilities employees, etc?
I'm not seeing the reasoning here, I guess. What do YOU think?
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